Sutley Research Group
Advancing community disaster resilience through prioritizing those with the greatest needs
Who We Are
We are driven by the disparate and long-term implications of disasters on people and communities. We are passionate about identifying solutions and strategies that help all and prioritize those with the greatest needs. We integrate disciplinary frameworks spanning engineering, computing and social sciences, and use a range of methodologies to identify and solve problems. We are compelled to share our findings in ways that can help others.
Elaina J. Sutley, Ph.D., P.E.
Elaina Sutley is an associate professor in the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering department at the University of Kansas. Sutley started at KU in 2015, and became an associate dean in 2021. She presently serves as the associate dean for impact and belonging and the director of the Self Engineering Leadership Fellows Program.
Sutley's scholarship and professional service largely focus on advancing community disaster resilience and long-term housing recovery using experimental, field-based and computational research methods that pull from engineering, computing and social science fields.
For her research, Sutley has received early career awards in 2019 from the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine and from the National Science Foundation. KU recognized Sutley as a Miller Faculty Scholar in 2021, Bellows Faculty Scholar in 2024 and with the University Scholarly Achievement Award in 2025. Her alma mater, the University of Alabama, recognized her in 2024 with a Centennial Scholar Award as one of 100 alumni who bring distinction to their graduate programs.
Sutley has served in various national-level leadership roles, including on the SEI Board of Governors, the Executive Committee of the Infrastructure Resilience Division of ASCE and on the Board of Directors of the Applied Technology Council. Sutley is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Kansas. She is married to Frank Sutley, a mechanical engineering graduate of UA and CSU, and together they have two sons.