Dr. Lina Svedin is a Professor of Strategy and Security Studies at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. She is a course instructor, thesis and dissertation advisor, and researcher. Since 2024 she serves as Director of PhD programs and oversees institutional effectiveness at SAASS.
Dr. Svedin received her M.A. in international relations from Stockholm University and Ph.D. in political science from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. She is trained as an interdisciplinary research leader, has led funded research, and has published in the areas of cooperation, risk regulation, crisis management, accountability, and ethics. She served as an IPA assignment as a Visiting Professor at SAASS, 2019-2021. Prior to her current position, Dr Svedin was a Professor of Political Science, Programs of Public Affairs at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Before joining the Air Force, Dr Svedin spent 26 years conducting and leading team research on crisis management around the Baltic Sea, interdisciplinary community-engaged research for health, and policy and program evaluations related to immigration, homelessness, and child abuse. She is a fellow of the first cohort of Interdisciplinary Research Leaders funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2016-2019 and has served in several academic leadership positions.
EDUCATION
1998 Bachelor of Art in English, Stockholm University, Sweden.
2001 Master of Art, International Relations, Stockholm University, Sweden.
2008 Doctorate of Philosophy, Political Science, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
March 1997- June 2004 Analyst, National Center for Crisis Management Research and Training (CRISMART), the Swedish National Defence College, Sweden
June 1998 – October 1998 Analyst, Swedish Defence Research Agency, Sweden
September 1998- February 1999 Consultant, Swedish Office of the Prime Minister and the Swedish Agency for Civil Emergency Planning on Preparedness on Preparedness at the Turn of the Millennium
March 2000 – February 2001 Research Consultant, Swedish Department of Defense on Departmental Crisis Preparedness
October 2005-March 2006 Area Specialist - Crisis Management, Cabinet Offices of Sweden, Sweden
2006-2007 Training Director, National Center for Crisis Management Research and Training (CRISMART), Swedish National Defence College, Sweden
2008-2013 Assistant Professor, Political Science Department, University of Utah
2012-2014; Book Review Editor, Public Integrity, M.E. Sharpe.
2013-2022 Associate Professor, Political Science Department; Associate Program Director, Master of Public Administration program, University of Utah
2014-2015 Associate Department Chair, Political Science Department, University of Utah
2015-2016 Director, Master of Public Administration and Master of Public Policy programs, University of Utah
2016-2019 Director of Public Affairs Programs (MPA, MPP & MIAGE programs); Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Population Health Science, University of Utah
2019-2021 Visiting Professor, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell Air Force Base
2021-2023 Associate Professor, Political Science Department, University of Utah
2022-2023 Professor, Political Science Department, University of Utah
2023-2025 Associate Professor, School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell AFB
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
The Daniels Fund Leadership in Ethics Education Award, David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah 2016
PUBLICATIONS
“Crisis Communication and the LPG Near Miss in Stockholm 1998,” International Journal of Hazardous Materials 28(1-2), 2001
Crisis Management in Russia: Overcoming Institutional Rigidity and Resource Constraints, Swedish National Defence College 2002
Auckland Unplugged: Coping with Critical Infrastructure Failure, Lexington Books 2003
Small State Crisis Management: The Icelandic Way, Swedish National Defence College 2004
Organizational Cooperation in Crises, Ashgate Publishing 2009
Risk Regulation in the European Union and the United States: Controlling Chaos, Palgrave MacMillan 2010
Ethics and Crisis Management, Information Age Publishing 2011
Accountability in Crises and Public Trust in Governing Institutions, Routledge 2012
“Ethics in Crisis Communication: Persistent Challenges and Emerging Issues” Ethics in Communication Professions: New Agendas in Communication Research, Routledge 2013
“European Power by Design,” International Studies Review. Vol. 16, 2014
Ethics and Risk Management, Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing 2015
“States, Water, and Climate: Who's planning for change?” Climate Risk Management, Vol. 16, 2017
“Parsing Language and Measures Around Child Maltreatment,” Pediatrics. 139(1), 2017
The State of Utah Strategic Plan on Homelessness: Working Together to Make Homelessness in all of Utah Rare, Brief, and Non-recurring, Workforce Services Housing & Community September 2019
“Strategic Planning in Practice: The Case of Utah’s Statewide Strategic Plan on Homelessness,” Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 1(1), 2020
Community-Academic Partnerships for Early Childhood Health, Univ. of Cincinnati Press 2020
Creating Culture through Health Leadership, Cincinnati Univ. Press 2020
“Shooting for the Stars: Collaborative Design for Space Education,” Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 2(3), 2021
“Partnering to Develop Utah’s Strategic Plan on Homelessness” Engaging the Intersection of Housing and Health, Univ. of Cincinnati Press 2021
“The Technological Imperative, the Effectiveness Lure, and the Risks of an Inhumane Future,” Proceedings from Air Power Ethics and Control of the Space Domain Colloquium, Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace 2022
“Legal and Ethical Challenges in the Syria Campaign,” Operation Inherent Resolve, Air University Press 2023
The Collaborative Fight: Pursuing Jointness in the US Military, University Press of Kansas 2024
“A collaborative practice pilot between child welfare and child health care providers: Lessons in implementation and evaluation of cross-sector interventions,” Child Abuse & Neglect, Vol 149, 2024