The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), a world-leading leading professional society for fire protection and fire safety engineering, has appointed Jonathan L. Hodges, PhD, as chair of the Research, Tools, & Methods (RTM) Committee. 

Dr. Hodges offers significant expertise in fire model development, fire risk assessment, artificial intelligence, and research on emerging hazards, including electric vehicles and Wildland-Urban Interface fires, to the RTM Committee. He has led research on physics-based fire models, integrated artificial intelligence into fire safety applications, and conducted large-scale validation studies for the Fire Dynamics Simulator. His work bridges fundamental research and practical application, supporting the RTM Committee’s mission.

Dr. Hodges has been involved with SFPE for the past decade. Since 2017, he has served on the RTM Committee, contributing to updates for the S.01 SFPE Standard on Calculating Fire Exposures to Structures and the SFPE Engineering Guide on Fire Model Substantiation. He has either presented or contributed to presentations at every annual meeting in the Americas since 2021 on topics related to his research. He has served on the SFPE Foundation Board of Governors since 2025 and contributed to the WUI and Grand Challenge Initiative working groups, co-authoring the white paper on Artificial Intelligence, Digitalization, and Cybersecurity. These experiences position him to align the RTM Committee’s future work with the profession’s needs and global priorities.

Reflecting on his new role, Jonathan L. Hodges said, "SFPE has played an important role in my career over the last decade, and I'm honored to serve as Chair of the RTM Committee. The fire protection engineering profession is evolving as we address emerging hazards, advances in modeling, data analysis, and AI. I look forward to working with the committee and SFPE volunteers to strengthen the connection between research and practice."

FPE Chief Engineer Joshua Reichert supported the appointment, stating, "Jonathan’s technical expertise, research leadership, and long-standing involvement with SFPE makes him exceptionally well-suited to lead the RTM Committee. His experience will help guide the committee as the profession moves forward."

The RTM Committee oversees SFPE’s technical products and research, monitors emerging trends, and helps set the research agenda for the fire protection and safety engineering profession.