ProfessorAtula Abeysekera
Professor of Practice (Risk Management)
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering
- Professor of Practice (Risk Management)Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering - Faculty of Engineering
- Skempton Building, South Kensington Campus, United Kingdom
BIO
RISK MANAGEMENT AND RESILIENCE
Professor Atula Abeysekera (HonFREng) is the Professor of Practice in Risk Management at Imperial College and was a member of the Court at Imperial. Atula is a leading specialist in risk management, governance, stakeholder management and resilience. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2024.
Atula is a visiting professor at Universidad de Navarra, Spain and a member of the advisory committee of the School of Economics and Business.
He is frequently consulted by government departments and academic institutions for his advice to help growth strategies. Atula has over 40 years’ experience and expertise in systems risk management with global financial and engineering institutions. He teaches civil engineering students at Imperial and is the first Professor of Practice in the department’s 145-year history.
He focuses on high-quality teaching and research programmes relating to one or more of these aspects of infrastructure risk. His particular interest is in the practical understanding of managing extreme risks and developing resilience programmes using systems risk management techniques.
He is a member of the Industry Steering Group for the UK Government specialising in risk and safety to drive forward the building safety programme recommended by Dame Hackitt following the Grenfell tragedy. He advised the UK Cabinet Office on improvements to risk culture and resilience.
He has over 40 years of commercial experience at civil engineering (Mott MacDonald) and blue chip financial institutions (Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, Lazard, Cazenove and Schroders).
He was the Chairman of the Risk Forum Committee of the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments from 2005 to 2015 and created and trained a global network of over 1000 risk officers. Between 2007 to 2018, Atula served as a Non-Executive Director at the Institution of Civil Engineers (Thomas Telford Ltd).
He is a Chartered Civil Engineer (Institution of Civil Engineers, UK) and a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants, England & Wales). He has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London and Fellowship of the City and Guilds Institute. He is a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of International Bankers.
He is a graduate of the Department of Civil Engineering at Imperial College London and a past President of the City and Guilds College Association ('CGCA'), which is the Alumnus Association of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London.
Professor Abeysekera is a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for Systems Engineering and Innovation at the Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London.
In recognition of his commitment to young people, teaching and mentoring, in 2017 Atula was awarded a Fellowship by the City & Guilds Institute by the HRH Princess Royal.
His passion outside work is cricket, and he is a member of the MCC. He is author of the book “What’s the small idea” (http://www.small-idea.co.uk/)
BOOKS
Abeysekera, A. (2015). What’s the small idea? - Innovation and Risk Culture in Government.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Whats-small-idea-Innovation-Government/dp/1514875462/
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Author of the policy paper ‘Black Swans means business’ which shows how unknown-unknown’ risks impact national security. The paper was republished by a think tank and professional journals.
Abeysekera, A. (2013). Black Swans means business: The Institution of Engineering and Technology: Infrastructure Risk and Resilience: Transportation
Abeysekera, A. (2012). Taming the Beast: The continuity insurance & risk: http://www.cirmagazine.com/DigitalEditions/october/CIR-october2012.pdf
Author of the policy paper ‘Mind the Gap: Funding for UK’s Flood Defences’. The paper recommends innovative financial structures required to off load flood defence assets from the Government’s Balance Sheet to the Private Sector. The paper was republished by a think tank.
Mind the Gap – Funding for UK’s Flood Defences: The Bow Group:
SELECTED INVITED LECTURES
1) Expert Insight into SAGE Composition - Stakeholder Management - Lecture to UK's Government Office for Science on behalf of the Royal Academy of Engineering - July 2025
2) Managing Black Swan Risks, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka - May 2024
3) Engineering a Better Word, Inaugural professorial lecture at Imperial College - Dec 2022
4) Hazards31 - Institute of Chemical Engineering - Keeping Risk in Perspective: Learning to Manage Black Swan Risks - November 2021
5) Worshipful Company of International Bankers, Managing Black Swans - May 2021
6) Confederation of British Industry (CBI), - Keeping Risk in Perspective: Learning to Manage Black Swan Risks - May 2021
7) Chartered Bankers and Chartered Institute of Securities and Investments, Keeping Risk in Perspective: Learning to Manage Black Swan Risks - May 2021
8) Friends of Imperial College - Learning to Manage Black Swan Risks - April 2021
9) City and Guilds College Association, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College: Prof Atula Abeysekera was elected President of the City & Guilds College Association in June 2020. At the Annual General Meeting, Prof Abeysekera delivered a speech on Managing Black Swans.
10) Click here for the transcript, it gives Prof Abeysekera's thoughts on how to manage and tame Black Swan events. https://www.small-idea.co.uk/black-swans/
FACULTY
- Faculty of Engineering
POSITION NAME
- Professor of Practice (Risk Management)