Louis Gritzo

Dr. Louis “Lou” Gritzo is chief science officer and staff senior vice president for commercial property insurer FM Global, a leader in property loss prevention and business continuity. Gritzo is responsible for leading the strategic advancement of science and research at FM Global. He oversees a worldwide team of scientists with expertise in fire, explosions, natural hazards (windstorms, floods, freeze, hail and earthquakes), equipment risk and reliability, and cyber hazards. Prior to joining FM Global in 2006, Gritzo was manager of fire science and technology at Sandia National

He has served as chair of the board of directors of the Innovation Research Interchange (formerly the Industrial Research Institute), chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Heat Transfer Division Executive Committee, and on the governing board of the Global Earthquake Model, on the ABET Industrial Advisory Committee, on the Research Foundation Board of Trustees and Research Advisory Committee for the National Fire Protection Association, and on advisory committees for several universities. In 2015, he was an invited panelist for two sessions at the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Risk Management in Sendai, Japan. He is also a contributing author to Forbes.com. Gritzo has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, with a minor in applied mathematics, from Texas Tech University, USA.