Ray Shirkhodai is a seasoned executive with expertise in information technology and disaster risk reduction. He is currently the Executive Director of the Pacific Disaster Center, an international leader in science and IT for disaster response. Shirkhodai's journey to the top of his field started with a BS and MS studies in Computer Science from George Mason University. He then held senior software management and development positions at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSS) and MCI Telecommunications. He later served for seven years as a director of Information Technology (IT) at WinStar Wireless, where he managed a budget of $190M for software development and integration. At the Pacific Disaster Center, Shirkhodai is the main architect of the disaster monitoring and integrated decision support platforms, and his leadership has seen the center's revenue increase nine-fold. He is also the primary architect of the 10-nation ASEAN Disaster Information Sharing and Communication Network (DISCNet). Shirkhodai has extensive experience in product development, software integration, program management, web-based application development, geographic information systems (GIS), and network management systems (NMS). He has been an invited keynote speaker at numerous international industry forums. At the Pacific Disaster Center, he leads a team that focuses on strategic investing, business development, corporate governance, team-building, and executive management.