Jesse Jenkins
Jesse Jenkins is an assistant professor at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. He is an energy systems engineer with a focus on the rapidly evolving electricity sector, including the transition to zero-carbon resources, the proliferation of distributed energy resources, and the role of electricity in economy-wide decarbonization. Jesse’s research focuses on improving and applying optimization-based energy systems models to evaluate low-carbon energy technologies, policy options, and robust decisions under deep uncertainty. Jesse completed a Ph.D. in engineering systems and M.S. in technology and policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in computer and information science at the University of Oregon. He worked previously as a postdoctoral Environmental Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard University Center for the Environment, a researcher at the MIT Energy Initiative, the Director of Energy and Climate Policy at the Breakthrough Institute, and a Policy and Research Associate at Renewable Northwest.
Roxanne Johnson
Roxanne Johnson established and currently directs the research department at the BlueGreen Alliance (BGA), a national coalition of labor unions and environmental groups working to build a stronger, fairer economy. In her current role, she leads BGA’s research efforts to understand job creation opportunities in the clean economy. Her team is responsible for conducting manufacturing and policy research in industries such as wind and solar energy, energy efficiency, advanced vehicles, and infrastructure. Her previous work at the Great Plains Institute focused on communicating model results showing potential impacts of energy and transportation policy. Ms. Johnson earned a B.S. in Mathematics and Environmental Studies from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. She also earned an M.S. in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Timothy C. Lieuwen
Timothy C. Lieuwen, NAE, serves as executive director of the Strategic Energy at the Institute at Georgia Technology. He is also a Regents’ Professor and the David S. Lewis, Jr. Chair in the School of Aerospace Engineering. He is also founder and chief technology officer of TurbineLogic, an analytics firm working in the gas turbine industry. Dr. Lieuwen is an international authority on gas turbine technologies, both from a research and development perspective and from a field/operational perspective. He has authored or edited four books, including the textbook Unsteady Combustor Physics. He has also authored 350 other publications and received four patents, all of which are licensed to the gas turbine industry. He is editor-in-chief of the Aerospace Industries Association (AIAA) Progress book series. He is also past chair of the Combustion, Fuels, and Emissions Technical Committee of American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and has served as associate editor of Combustion Science and Technology, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, and AIAA Journal of Propulsion and Power. He is a fellow of ASME and AIAA, and a recipient of the AIAA Lawrence Sperry Award, ASME’s George Westinghouse Gold Medal, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and various best paper awards. Board positions include appointment by the Secretary of Energy to the National Petroleum Counsel, board of governors of Oak Ridge National Lab, and board member of the ASME International Gas Turbine Institute. He has also served on a variety of federal review and advisory committees. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. He has served on the Academies’ Review of NASA Test Flight Capabilities and the Decadal Survey of Aeronautics.
Vivian E. Loftness
Vivian Loftness is a University Professor and former Head of the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University. She is an internationally renowned researcher, author, and educator with over thirty years of focus on environmental design and sustainability, advanced building systems integration, climate and regionalism in architecture, and design for performance in the workplace of the future. She has served on ten National Academy of Science (NAS) panels, the NAS Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment and has given four Congressional testimonies on sustainability. Vivian is recipient of the National Educator Honor Award from the American Institute of Architecture Students and the Sacred Tree Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). She received her B.S. and M.S. in Architecture from MIT and served on the National Boards of the USGBC, AIA Committee on the Environment, Green Building Alliance, Turner Sustainability, and the Global Assurance Group of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. She is a registered architect and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.
Clark A. Miller
Clark A. Miller is Professor and Director of the Center for Energy & Society at Arizona State University. He leads sustainability research for the Quantum Energy and Sustainable Solar Technologies Engineering Research Center. He also serves as a member of the steering committee of LightWorks, ASU’s university-wide sustainable energy initiative. Dr. Miller’s current research focuses on the human and social dimensions of energy transitions, including the social value of distributed renewable energy systems; strategies for addressing poverty and inequality through energy innovation; the organization of urban and regional energy transitions; and the design and governance of solar energy futures. He is an author or editor of eight books, including The Weight of Light (2019), Designing Knowledge (2018), The Handbook of Science & Technology Studies (2016), The Practices of Global Ethics (2015), Science and Democracy (2015), Nanotechnology, the Brain, and the Future (2013), Arizona’s Energy Future (2011), and Changing the Atmosphere (2001). He has published extensively in the fields of energy policy, science and technology policy, the role of science in democratic governance and international relations, the governance of emerging technologies, and the design of knowledge systems for improved decision-making. He holds a PhD in electrical engineering from Cornell University.
William Pizer
Billy Pizer is the Susan B. King Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research at the Sanford School of Public Policy and Faculty Fellow at the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, both at Duke University. He is also a University Fellow at Resources for the Future and a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research. His current research examines how we value the future benefits of climate change mitigation, how environmental regulation and climate policy can affect production costs and competitiveness, and how the design of market-based environmental policies can address the needs of different stakeholders. He has been actively involved in creation of an environmental program at Duke Kunshan University in China, a collaborative venture between Duke University, Wuhan University, and the city of Kunshan. Before coming to Duke, he was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Environment and Energy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury from 2008 to 2011, overseeing Treasury’s role in the domestic and international environment and energy agenda of the United States. Prior to that, he was a researcher at Resources for the Future for more than a decade. He has written more than fifty peer-reviewed publications, books, and articles, and holds a PhD and MA in economics from Harvard University and BS in physics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Varun Rai
Varun Rai is an Associate Professor in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, where he directs the Energy Systems Transformation Research Group (aka “Rai Group”). His interdisciplinary research – delving with issues at the interface of energy systems, complex systems, decision science, and public policy – focuses on studying how the interactions between the underlying social, behavioral, economic, technological, and institutional components of the energy system impact the diffusion of energy technologies. Over the last 15 years, his research has applied various analytical lenses to study technologies and policies in carbon capture and storage (CCS), fuels cells, oil & gas, plug-in hybrid vehicles (PEVs), and solar photovoltaics (PV). He has presented at several important forums, including the United States Senate Briefings, Global Intelligent Utility Network Coalition, and Global Economic Symposium, and his research group’s work has been discussed in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Bloomberg News, among other venues. He was a Global Economic Fellow in 2009 and holds the Elspeth Rostow Centennial Fellowship at the LBJ School. During 2013-2015 he was a commissioner for the vertically-integrated electric utility Austin Energy. In 2016 the Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM) awarded him the David N. Kershaw Award and Prize, which “was established to honor persons who, at under the age of 40, have made a distinguished contribution to the field of public policy analysis and management.” He received The Eyes of Texas Excellence Award, also in 2016, for making “noteworthy contributions to the UT community.” Dr. Rai has held the position of the Associate Dean for Research for the LBJ School since September 2017. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur.
Ed Rightor
Ed Rightor is the director of the Industrial Program at the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). In this role Ed develops and leads the strategic vision for the industrial sector, shapes the research and policy agenda, and convenes stakeholders to accelerate energy efficiency and reductions of GHGs. Prior to joining ACEEE, held several leadership roles at Dow Chemical during his 31 year career. Through 2017, he served as the director of strategic projects in Dow’s Environmental Technology Center. In this role he worked with Dow businesses, operations and corporate groups, to reduce air emissions, waste, freshwater intake, and energy use. He also served as the facilitator of Dow’s Corporate Water Strategy Team, led teams to establish and pursue Dow’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, including the first ever water goal. Working across global industrial associations, he spearheaded a roadmap for the chemical industry on paths to reduce energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In prior roles, he developed GHG and energy reduction options across Dow’s global operations and pursued project funding and implementation. Earlier, he started a new market facing business in the energy sector, led cross-functional teams to optimize processes (six sigma), pioneered technology that led to new materials development, and led teams to troubleshoot production challenges. He earned a doctorate in chemistry from Michigan State University and a bachelor of science in chemistry from Marietta College
Kelly Sims Gallagher
Kelly Sims Gallagher is Professor of Energy and Environmental Policy at The Fletcher School, Tufts University. She directs the Climate Policy Lab and the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at Fletcher. From June 2014-September 2015 she served in the Obama Administration as a Senior Policy Advisor in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and as Senior China Advisor in the Special Envoy for Climate Change office at the U.S. State Department. Gallagher is a member of the board of the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement and she also serves on the board of the Energy Foundation. Broadly, she focuses on energy innovation and climate policy. She specializes in how policy spurs the development and deployment of cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, domestically and internationally. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the author of Titans of the Climate (The MIT Press 2018), The Global Diffusion of Clean Energy Technologies: Lessons from China (MIT Press 2014), China Shifts Gears: Automakers, Oil, Pollution, and Development (The MIT Press 2006), and dozens of other publications.
Esther S. Takeuchi
Esther Takeuchi, NAE, is a professor at Stony Brook University and a chief scientist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory. She is an energy storage expert who led efforts to invent and refine the lifesaving lithium/silver vanadium oxide (Li/SVO) battery technology, utilized in the majority of today's implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs). Takeuchi's work was conducted during 22 years at Greatbatch, Inc., a major supplier of pacemaker and ICD batteries. ICD batteries have high energy density with the ability to support intermittent high-power pulses. In addition, they have a long life, are safe, and durable. In Takeuchi's innovation, the cathodes employ two metals, silver and vanadium, rather than just one, allowing for more energy. In addition, the Li/SVO chemistry lets the ICD monitor the level of discharge, allowing it to predict end of service in a reliable manner. Today, over 300,000 ICDs are implanted every year. Raised in Ohio, Takeuchi received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. She joined Greatbatch, Inc. in 1984, and in 2007, she joined the University at Buffalo. Takeuchi has received over 140 U.S. patents and is the recipient of the 2008 National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
Susan F. Tierney
Susan Tierney, a Senior Advisor at Analysis Group, is an expert on energy economics, regulation, and policy, particularly in the electric and gas industries. She consults to businesses, government agencies, foundations, tribes, environmental groups, and other organizations on energy markets, economic and environmental regulation and strategy, and climate-related energy policies. She has participated as an expert in civil litigation cases, regulatory proceedings before state and federal agencies, and business consulting engagements. Previously, she served as the Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Energy, and was the Secretary for Environmental Affairs in Massachusetts, Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and Executive Director of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Council. She co-authored the energy chapter of the National Climate Assessment, and serves on the boards of ClimateWorks Foundation, Barr Foundation, Energy Foundation, Resources for the Future, and World Resources Institute. She taught at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT and at the University of California at Irvine, and has lectured at Harvard University, University of Chicago, Yale University, New York University, Tufts University, Northwestern University, and University of Michigan. She earned her Ph.D. and master’s in regional planning at Cornell University and her B.A. at Scripps College.
