Patricia Grossi Balachandran, PhD, PE, is a catastrophe modeler and natural hazard expert who moved to Radnor from Northern California in 2016 with her husband and two children. She is a registered civil engineer in the state of California, receiving her MS in structural engineering from Stanford University and a PhD in engineering and risk management from the University of Pennsylvania. She spent the early part of her career as an academic – first at the Wharton School and later at Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business. For twelve years, she worked in the California office of Risk Management Solutions, a leading catastrophe modeler. As a research director, Patricia authored or co-authored over 45 publications, highlighting the implications of disasters on the future of risk management and decision-making. Before leaving RMS, Patricia spent four years managing the strategic direction of the RMS global earthquake modeling suite – which models property and casualty risk across 50 countries worldwide. Since moving to the Philadelphia region in 2016, Patricia has spent a majority of her time volunteering in Radnor – first as a class parent and 5th grade committee chair at Wayne Elementary School andcurrently on the Radnor Middle School PTO’s Executive Board as its President. Patricia was the co-chair of the REF Auction in 2019 and 2020.