Daniel Kammen

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Daniel Kammen
Dr. Dan Kammen, UC Berkeley (14996536218) (cropped).jpg
Born
Daniel Merson Kammen
Education Cornell University (BA)
Harvard University (MA, PhD)
Scientific career
Institutions University of California, Berkeley
Website Official website

Daniel Merson Kammen (b. 1962) [1] is an American scientist, renewable energy expert, and former government figure. Since July 1, 2025, he has been a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins University [2] . Before joining Hopkins, he fully retired from the University of California, Berkeley where he was the Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group [3] .

Contents

Kammen is noted as a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their report, Climate Change 2007 , assessing man-made global warming. [4] In 1998, Kammen was elected a permanent fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and in 2007 received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Commonwealth Club of California. [4] Kammen was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2025. [5]

Early life and education

Originally from Ithaca, New York, Kammen is the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Cornell University professor Michael Kammen. [6] He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University (1984) and his master's degree (1986) and PhD (1988) in physics from Harvard University. [7] As a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech, Kammen began to transition to energy research, with a focus on the role of energy in developing economies. [8]

Career in government

On September 15, 2007, Kammen was appointed chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the World Bank. [9]

In 2016, he was selected as a U.S. Science Envoy by the United States State Department. [10] He resigned from this position in 2017, citing what he believed to be President Trump's failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-Nazis. [11] His August 23, 2017, resignation letter went viral, as netizens noticed that the first letter of each paragraph spelled out I-M-P-E-A-C-H. [12]

Kammen has been mentioned as a potential Secretary of Energy in a Joe Biden administration. [13]

See also

References

  1. https://search.library.cooper.edu/permalink/01NYU_CU/1c53fbr/alma990062385540107874
  2. "Renewable Energy Expert Daniel Kammen Joins Hopkins as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor". Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. Johns Hopkins University. July 29, 2025. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  3. "Kammen resigns federal post as science envoy, and adds plug for impeachment". Berkeley News. University of California, Berkeley. August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Daniel M. Kammen - Copenhagen Climate Council". Copenhagen Climate Council. Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
  5. "National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members". April 29, 2025.
  6. Schudel, Matt (December 4, 2013). "Michael Kammen, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies at 77". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  7. Kammen, Daniel. "Kammen CV" (PDF). Retrieved May 26, 2015.
  8. Raphael, Chris. "Dan Kammen's race against climate change" . Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  9. Kessler, Richard A. (September 10, 2010). "World Bank names California professor as clean energy chief". ReCharge. NHST Media Group. Retrieved September 11, 2010.
  10. "Announcement of U.S. Science Envoys". United States Department of State. February 26, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  11. "Prominent UC professor resigns post in Trump administration". The Sacramento Bee . August 23, 2017.
  12. Amy B Wang (August 23, 2017). "Trump's science envoy quits in scathing letter with an embedded message: I-M-P-E-A-C-H". The Washington Post.
  13. "POLITICS: Who would run Biden's DOE?". www.eenews.net. Retrieved October 8, 2020.