Super Eco

Photo credit: change.gov

John Holdren was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania, and grew up in San Mateo, California, where he attended public school. He earned undergraduate education at MIT, where he majored in space science and engineering and a minor in physics. He received his PhD from Stanford in 1970. Holdren worked as a physicist in the Theory Group of the Magnetic Fusion Energy Division of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he remained an active consultant until 1994. From 1991 to 2005, he served on the Board of Trustees of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, helping to shape that foundation’s programs on international peace and cooperation, environment, and population.

He has membership in both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, he is also a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Holdren is director-elect of The Woods Hole Research Center where he and a team of ecologists, geographers, geochemists, atmospheric scientists, economists, and policy analysts focus on the connection between human activities and global climate change. John Holdren is the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

On 20 December 2008, President-elect Barack Obama named Holdren as Advisor to the President for Science and Technology, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and Co-Chair of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The President’s Science Adviser works out of the White House and oversees science and technology funding, analysis, and messaging for all federal agencies. In making this announcement, Obama highlighted the importance of science, stating: "more than ever before, science holds the key to our survival as a planet and our security and prosperity as a nation. It is time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology."

Notable Eco Activity

His entire career has been focused on finding the causes and consequences of global environmental change. Encouraging sustainable development, energy technology and policy, nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, and science and technology policy.

Famous Quotes

"I am one of those who believes that any reasonably comprehensive and up-to-date look at the evidence makes clear that civilization has already generated dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate system," Dr. Holdren said. "What keeps me going is my belief that there is still a chance of avoiding catastrophe."
 

• John Holdren Details

  • Birth Date

    March 1, 1944

  • Born In

    United States

  • Home Page

    Unavailable

  • Lives In

    United States

  • Organizations

    Unavailable

  • Occupation

    Science Advisor in the Obama Administration