Meet the Team
The Dartmouth Office of Emergency Management (OEM) operates within Dartmouth Safety & Security and is staffed by Campus Emergency Manager Ron & Emergency Management Specialist Joshua. Both continue to work towards a safer institution through crisis management planning, safety training, and preparedness & response exercises.
Campus Emergency Manager Ron Swartz earned a degree in Criminal Justice and graduated from the FEMA National Emergency Management Advanced Academy. He served as a police officer and later a patrol commander until 2015, when he became a full-time Emergency Manager for the University of Alaska Anchorage. As a Master Exercise Practitioner, he helps write response plans for institutions and then works with uniformed responders and leaders to practice those plans through crisis exercises. Ron became the Dartmouth College Campus Emergency Manager in 2022.
Coming from Dallas-Fort Worth in North Texas, Emergency Management Specialist Joshua Ladesma has received a BS in Criminal Justice and MS in Homeland Security Studies with a Certificate in Emergency Management from Sam Houston State University. Joshua worked as a Security Designer for a national engineering consulting firm where he practiced long-term mitigation, a facet of emergency management, while designing large-scale security systems and their supporting infrastructure for the healthcare, education, and commercial sectors as well as projects with local, state, and federal government(s). Throughout his academic and professional career, Joshua has worked alongside several emergency management agencies and organizations including the American Red Cross Gulf Coast & North Texas Regions, Collin County Office of Emergency Management, City of Allen Police Department, City of Dallas Office of Emergency Management, the Texas State Guard, and more. Returning to traditional emergency management at Dartmouth College, Joshua is focusing on institutional business continuity efforts to ensure the campus has contingency plans that enable continued operation during an emergency and emergency preparedness through department-tailored emergency preparedness & action plans.