Dr. Karen Vierow Kirkland is a full Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at Texas A&M University. She is internationally recognized for her accomplishments in nuclear safety, particularly in condensation heat transfer, steam-water experimental investigations of passive safety systems and severe accident analysis of current commercial reactors and advanced reactor designs. More recently, she has been developing methods to evaluate reactor response to cyber+physical attacks. Dr. Kirkland teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in reactor safety, reactor engineering and capstone senior design. She developed a graduate-level course in Severe Accident Analysis and made significant curriculum changes to the Nuclear Engineering capstone design courses, resulting in national awards for five undergraduate student teams. Dr. Kirkland has held numerous leadership roles in the American Nuclear Society, including Chair of the Thermal Hydraulic Division. In 2016, she was appointed to the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy’s Nuclear Energy Advisory Committee. In 2020, she became a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society.