Eric Gentry

Eric Gentry joined the Smithsonian Institution in July of 2015 as the inaugural director of the Office of Emergency Management. Before coming to the Smithsonian, Gentry spent 11 years with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), holding various leadership positions while stationed in Florida, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. He deployed to numerous disasters including the Florida hurricanes of 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Superstorm Sandy in 2012, where he held key assignments including operations section chief and deputy federal coordinating officer. In his last years with FEMA, Gentry was stationed at their headquarters as the chief of the FEMA Qualification System.  

Prior to joining FEMA, Gentry worked in emergency services at the city, county, and state levels. He began his career as a firefighter, rising to the rank of lieutenant. He then moved to state-level service, working first as an education and training specialist for the North Carolina Division of Emergency Management, before transferring to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, where he served as the state operations chief and state training officer. He also served as director of Emergency Services in Flagler County Florida.   

Over the course of his career, Gentry has responded to more than 60 major disasters and catastrophic events and is a recognized expert in the emergency management field. He has been an adjunct instructor at the Emergency Management Institute at Emmitsburg, Maryland since 1990, where he has designed and taught numerous courses.