Anthony P. Ciavarelli, Ed.D.

Dr. Ciavarelli graduated from California State University at Los Angeles (CSLA) with a B.A. in Psychology in 1968, and completed his M.A. in Experimental Psychology at CSLA in 1976. He received an Ed.D (1988) from the University of Southern California, with concentration in Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology. Professor Ciavarelli has held both technical and management positions in the Defense Industry. He has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in Organizational Behavior, Socio-technical Systems, Research Methods, and Statistics for the University of San Francisco, as a part-time adjunct professor of Organizational Psychology.

Dr. Ciavarelli has returned to the School of Aviation Safety after completing a two-year tour as Associate Provost for Instruction at the Naval Postgraduate School (1999-2001). As Associate Provost, he was responsible for supervising curriculum updates, faculty development, and student academic services. In that position, he spearheaded the school's entry into Web-based instruction, including the development of a strategic plan and implementation of the faculty development program for distance learning support. He is a tenured, full Professor of Psychology at the School of Aviation Safety, where he has developed and taught specialized courses on Safety Psychology and Human Factors.

Prior to joining the Naval Postgraduate School, he held the positions of Staff Scientist, and Instruction and Research and Development Product Manager, for Cubic Corporation, San Diego (1981-1989). In that position he was responsible for design and development of new military aircrew training systems. He provided human engineering design analysis, training system design, and managed a research group in the development of R&D prototypes for both instrumented training ranges and advanced flight simulation training devices. Dr. Ciavarelli was employed at Dunlap and Associates (1975-1981), where he held the position of Managing Scientist. Here he directed research efforts in Navy aircrew training and performance effectiveness. While at Dunlap and Associates, Inc. Dr. Ciavarelli completed ground school training at the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). He published widely in the area of Air Combat training and performance assessment, based on his research with Navy aircrews at Miramar, NAS. While at Integrated Sciences, Inc. (1969-1972). He was responsible for conducting experimental research related to Navy Marine Mammal Training Systems. He worked as a Human Factors Engineer, responsible for advanced cockpit design and engineering test efforts while at Boeing (1972-1975). Dr. Ciavarelli's participated in Navy night carrier landing performance studies, while at Dunlap and Associates, Inc. (1966-1969).

In addition to his role as an educator, Dr. Ciavarelli is known primarily for his work in the design, development, and evaluation of complex human-machine systems. He is active in other professional activities as well. He was the Editor-in-Chief of the Training Technology Journal (1982-1984). Dr. Ciavarelli has served as a senior technical advisor to the U.S. Navy, US Air Force, and other federal agencies (FAA/DOE) or their contractors, in the areas of human factors design, safety analyses, and training system development. As a human factor consultant to various aerospace contractors, he participated on a variety of human factor’s design, safety, and training studies.

Dr. Ciavarelli was given the Superior Civil Service Medal (1996), the Navy Meritorious Service Award (1991) for his contributions to Naval Aviation, and another Navy Meritorious Service Award (2000) for his efforts in establishing the NPS distributed learning program.