Jeff Thomas is an award-winning faculty member and faculty associate in human systems engineering. His areas of interest include fire and human behavior, applied ethics, organizational behavior, leadership development and disaster psychology. Dr. Thomas is also a senior teaching fellow of the Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics at ASU. His latest book is "Case Studies for Emergency Responders: The Psychosocial, Ethical, and Leadership Dimensions."
Dr. Thomas received his doctorate from the University of Northern Colorado and his undergraduate degree from the University of Denver. He practiced for more than 12 years and is recognized internationally as an expert in the areas of juvenile firesetting and adult arson. Dr. Thomas has consulted with both the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and the National Association of State Fire Marshals to help establish standards of care for mental health interventions with juvenile firesetters. Through his consulting company, Psychological Fire Rescue, he has worked with numerous fire service and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada regarding critical incident stress management.
Dr. Thomas has also been involved in paramedic education and training for many years. He provides classes to paramedics and others to help them improve their ability to respond to psychological emergencies and provide a higher level of customer service. Dr. Thomas is the co-author of "Responding to Psychological Emergencies: A Field Guide."
Dr. Thomas is a past president of the ASU Polytechnic Faculty Senate and is also a past president of the Arizona Psychological Association. He is a member of the National Fire Protection Association, the Arizona Fire & Burn Educators Association and the International Association of Arson Investigators.