John Holdren

Last updated
John Holdren
John Holdren at commercial human spaceflight press conference (201002020002HQ).jpg
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
In office
March 19, 2009 January 20, 2017
Scientific career
Fields Physics, Environmental science
Institutions
Thesis Collisionless stability of an inhomogeneous, confined, planar plasma  (1970)
Doctoral advisor Oscar Buneman
Doctoral students Kirk R. Smith

John Paul Holdren (born March 1, 1944) is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as assistant 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 (PCAST). [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Holdren was previously the Teresa and John Heinz Professor of Environmental Policy at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, [7] director of the Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program at the School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and director of the Woods Hole Research Center. [8]

Early life and education

Holdren was born in Sewickley, Pennsylvania and grew up in San Mateo, California. [9] He trained in aeronautics, astronautics and plasma physics and earned a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965 and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1970 supervised by Oscar Buneman. [10] [11]

Career

Holdren taught at Harvard for 13 years and at the University of California, Berkeley for more than two decades. [1] His work has focused on the causes and consequences of global environmental change, population control, energy technologies and policies, ways to reduce the dangers from nuclear weapons and materials, and science and technology policy. [1] [8] He has also taken measures to contextualize the United States' current energy challenge, noting the role that nuclear energy could play. [12]

Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Mike Boots, President's Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) winner / EPA intern Apoorva Rangan, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, PEYA winner May Wang, PEYA award winner Deepika Kurup, and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren before the PEYA awards ceremony PEYA-PIAEE Awards (14905083971).jpg
Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Mike Boots, President's Environmental Youth Award (PEYA) winner / EPA intern Apoorva Rangan, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, PEYA winner May Wang, PEYA award winner Deepika Kurup, and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren before the PEYA awards ceremony

Holdren was involved in the famous Simon–Ehrlich wager in 1980. He, along with two other scientists helped Paul R. Ehrlich establish the bet with Julian Simon, in which they bet that the price of five key metals would be higher in 1990. The bet was centered around a disagreement concerning the future scarcity of resources in an increasingly polluted and heavily populated world. Ehrlich and Holdren lost the bet, when the price of metals had decreased by 1990. [13]

In 1981, Holdren was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship (informally known as the "genius award") [14] for his efforts to promote world peace through energy management. [15]

Holdren was chair of the Executive Committee of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs from 1987 until 1997 and delivered the Nobel Peace Prize acceptance lecture on behalf of Pugwash Conferences in December 1995. From 1993 until 2003, he was chair of the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the National Academy of Sciences, and co-chairman of the bipartisan National Committee on Energy Policy from 2002 until 2007. Holdren was elected President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) (2006–2007), and served as board Chairman (2007–2008). [8] He was the founding chair of the advisory board for Innovations , a quarterly journal about entrepreneurial solutions to global challenges published by MIT Press, and has written and lectured extensively on the topic of global warming.

Holdren was elected a member of the National Academy of Engineering (2000) for articulation of energy environmental and proliferation issues.

Holdren served as one of President Bill Clinton's science advisors (PCAST) from 1994 to 2001. [1] Eight years later, President Barack Obama nominated Holdren for the position of science advisor and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy in December 2008, and he was confirmed on March 19, 2009, by a unanimous vote in the Senate. [16] [17] [18] [19] He testified to the nomination committee that he does not believe that government should have a role in determining optimal population size [20] and that he never endorsed forced sterilization. [21] [22] [23]

Writings

Overpopulation was an early concern and interest. In a 1969 article, Holdren and co-author Paul R. Ehrlich argued, "if the population control measures are not initiated immediately, and effectively, all the technology man can bring to bear will not fend off the misery to come." [24] In 1973, Holdren encouraged a decline in fertility to well below replacement in the United States, because "210 million now is too many and 280 million in 2040 is likely to be much too many." [25] (The population of the US was 327.2 million in 2018.) In 1977, Paul R. Ehrlich, Anne H. Ehrlich, and Holdren co-authored the textbook Ecoscience: Population, Resources, Environment . Other early publications include Energy (1971), Human Ecology (1973), Energy in Transition (1980), Earth and the Human Future (1986), Strategic Defenses and the Future of the Arms Race (1987), Building Global Security Through Cooperation (1990), and Conversion of Military R&D (1998). [26]

Holdren also authored over 200 articles and papers and has co-authored and co-edited some 20 books and book-length reports including: [26]

Personal life

Holdren lives in Falmouth, Massachusetts, with his wife, biologist Cheryl E. Holdren (formerly Cheryl Lea Edgar), with whom he has two children and five grandchildren. [9] [32]

Affiliations and awards

Related Research Articles

<i>I = PAT</i> Equates human impact on the environment

I = (PAT) is the mathematical notation of a formula put forward to describe the impact of human activity on the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Michaels</span> American climatologist (1950–2022)

Patrick J. Michaels was an American agricultural climatologist. Michaels was a senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute until 2019. Until 2007, he was research professor of environmental sciences at the University of Virginia, where he had worked from 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ash Carter</span> American government official (1954–2022)

Ashton Baldwin Carter was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States secretary of defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.

Woodwell Climate Research Center, formerly known as the Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) until August 2020, is a scientific research organization that studies climate change impacts and solutions. The International Center for Climate Governance named WHRC the world's top climate change think tank for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

Daniel Paul Schrag is the Sturgis Hooper Professor of Geology, Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University and Director of the Harvard University Center for the Environment. He also co-directs the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard University Harvard Kennedy School. He is also an external professor at the Santa Fe Institute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology</span> White House advisory board

The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by George W. Bush, was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539, by Donald Trump's October 22, 2019, Executive Order 13895, and by Joe Biden's February 1, 2021, Executive Order 14007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs</span> Arms control and foreign policy research organization in the Kennedy School at Harvard

The Robert and Renée Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, also known as the Belfer Center, is a research center located at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Deese</span> American business executive and government official (born 1978)

Brian Christopher Deese is an American economic and political advisor who was the 13th director of the National Economic Council, serving under President Joe Biden.

Melissa Hathaway is a leading expert in cyberspace policy and cybersecurity. She served under two U.S. presidential administrations from 2007 to 2009, including more than 8 months at the White House, spearheading the Cyberspace Policy Review for President Barack Obama after leading the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) for President George W. Bush. She is President of Hathaway Global Strategies LLC, a Senior Fellow and member of the Board of Regents at Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, a Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Canada, and a non-resident Research Fellow at the Kosciuszko Institute in Poland. She was previously a Senior Adviser at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosina Bierbaum</span> American academic

Rosina M. Bierbaum is currently the Roy F. Westin Chair in Natural Economics and Research Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. She is also a professor and former dean at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE). She was hired in October 2001, by then-University of Michigan President, Lee Bollinger. She is also the current Chair of The Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (STAP) that provides independent scientific and technical advice to the GEF on its policies, strategies, programs, and projects.

Eugene William Stetson III is an American businessman, film producer and environmental policy advisor to numerous entrepreneurial, not-for-profit and political organizations.

Harvey Brooks was an American physicist, "a pioneer in incorporating science into public policy", notable for helping to shape national science policies and who served on science advisory committees in the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Brooks was also notable for his contributions to the fundamental theory of semiconductors and the band structure of metals. Brooks was dean of the Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences of the Harvard University.

Kirk R. Smith was an American expert on the health and climate effects of household energy use in developing nations. He held a professorship in Global Environmental Health at the University of California, Berkeley, where his research focused on the relationships among environmental quality, health, resource use, climate, development, and policy in developing countries. Smith contributed a great deal to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and the work of the IPCC was recognized by the joint award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. Smith was a recipient of the 2012 Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement for his work with cookstoves, health, and climate. He is also credited with designing and implementing the first randomized controlled trial of the health effects of indoor air pollution (IAP) from cookstoves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gina McCarthy</span> American government official (born 1954)

Regina McCarthy is an American air quality expert who served as the first White House national climate advisor from 2021 to 2022. She previously served as the thirteenth Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from 2013 to 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Bunn</span>

Matthew Bunn is an American nuclear and energy policy analyst, currently a professor of practice at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. He is the Co-principal Investigator for the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for International Environment and Resource Policy</span>

The Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP) is an interdisciplinary education and research organization founded in 1992, devoted to the study of international sustainable development, within The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, at Tufts University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall</span> American government official (born 1959)

Elizabeth D. Sherwood-Randall is an American national security and energy leader, public servant, educator, and author currently serving as the 11th United States Homeland Security Advisor to President Joe Biden since 2021. She previously served in the Clinton and Obama Administrations and held appointments at academic institutions and think tanks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert K. Dixon</span> American government official and expert

Robert K. Dixon is an energy, environment, and economic expert at the Office of International Affairs, US Department of Energy headquarters in Washington, DC, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frances Colón</span> American science diplomat

Frances Colón is an American science diplomat and environmental policy expert most notably having served at the United States Department of State between September 2008 and January 2017. In her work, she promotes the integration of science and technology into foreign policy dialogues; global scientific engagement for capacity-building; the advancement of women in STEM; and the use of innovation as a tool for economic growth around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bina Venkataraman</span>

Bina Venkataraman is an American science policy expert, author, and journalist. She is currently a Columnist at The Washington Post. She previously served as the Editorial Page Editor of The Boston Globe and as a senior advisor for Climate Change Innovation under President Barack Obama's administration. She also advised the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and has taught at MIT and the Harvard Kennedy School.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Profile: John Holdren: Why He Matters". WhoRunsGov.com, A Washington Post Co Pub. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  2. 1 2 Holdren, J. P. (2009). "Science in the White House". Science. 324 (5927): 567. doi: 10.1126/science.1174783 . PMID   19407163.
  3. Mervis, J. (2009). "NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: John Holdren Brings More Than Energy to His Role as Science Adviser". Science. 324 (5925): 324–325. Bibcode:2009Sci...324..324M. doi:10.1126/science.324.5925.324. PMID   19372403. S2CID   153264821.
  4. Mervis, J. (2009). "OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: No News is Good News for Holdren, Lubchenco at Confirmation Hearing". Science. 323 (5917): 995. doi: 10.1126/science.323.5917.995 . PMID   19229004. S2CID   36622530.
  5. Tollefson, J. (2009). "John Holdren: Adviser on science, fish and wine". Nature . 457 (7232): 942–943. doi: 10.1038/457942b . PMID   19225485.
  6. Kintisch, E.; Mervis, J. (2009). "THE TRANSITION: Holdren Named Science Adviser, Varmus, Lander to Co-Chair PCAST". Science. 323 (5910): 22–23. doi: 10.1126/science.323.5910.22 . PMID   19119188. S2CID   206583629.
  7. John Holdren's publications indexed by the Scopus bibliographic database. (subscription required)
  8. 1 2 3 News release. "Obama to Name John P. Holdren as Science Adviser" Archived 2008-12-23 at the Wayback Machine AAAS, December 18, 2008.
  9. 1 2 Wilke, Sharon; Sasha Talcott (20 December 2008). "Harvard Kennedy School's John P. Holdren Named Obama's Science Advisor". Press release. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  10. Holdren, John Paul (1970). Collisionless Stability of an Inhomogeneous, Confined, Planar Plasma (PhD thesis). Stanford University. OCLC   25848776. ProQuest   302557782.
  11. John Holdren at the Mathematics Genealogy Project
  12. Marcott, Amy (October 26, 2010). "Science Advisor John Holdren '65, SM '66 Contextualizes Energy Challenge". Slice of MIT. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved February 18, 2018.
  13. Gardner, Dan (2010). Future Babble: Why Expert Predictions Fail – and Why We Believe Them Anyway . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart. p.  232.
  14. 1 2 "John P. Holdren, Arms Control and Energy Analyst; Class of December 1981". MacArthur Foundation . Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  15. "John Holdren biography". Browse Biography. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  16. Staff and news service reports. "Obama's science adviser starts job", "NBC News", March 20, 2009.
  17. Library of Congress Archived 2011-04-10 at the Wayback Machine , Nomination PN65-07-111, confirmed by Senate voice vote.
  18. Nominations considered and confirmed en bloc [ permanent dead link ], Congressional Record, March 19, 2009 S3577-S3578.
  19. Koenig, Robert (February 13, 2009). "President Barack Obama's Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Faces Limited Criticism at Confirmation Hearings". Seed . Archived from the original on 2016-10-09. Retrieved June 26, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. Video. Senate Confirmation Hearing, February 12, 2009.
  21. Pratt, Andrew Plemmons "Right-wing Attacks on Science Adviser Continue" Archived 2009-08-04 at the Wayback Machine , Science Progress, July 21, 2009
  22. Mooney, Chris."Hold off on Holdren (again)" Archived 2012-04-20 at the Wayback Machine , "Science Progress", July 2009.
  23. Goldberg, Michelle. "Holdren's Controversial Population Control Past" Archived 2011-05-11 at the Wayback Machine , The American Prospect, July 21, 2009, accessed July 30, 2009.
  24. Paul R. Erlich and John P. Holdren. "Population and Panaceas A Technological Perspective", Bioscience, Vol 19, pages 1065-1071, 1969.
  25. Holdren, John P. (1973). "Population and the American Predicament: The Case Against Complacency". Daedalus, the No-Growth Society: 31–44. ISBN   978-0-7130-0136-5.
  26. 1 2 "John P. Holdren's CV". The Woods Hole Research Center. Archived from the original on April 17, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  27. Holdren, John P."The Future of Climate Change Policy: The U.S.'s Last Chance to Lead", Scientific American
  28. Holdren, John P. "Convincing the Climate Change Skeptics", The Boston Globe, August 4, 2008.
  29. "Faculty page-Harvard University". Archived from the original on 2011-09-22. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
  30. Holdren, John P."Global Climatic Disruption: Risks and Opportunities", Presentation at Investor Summit on Climate Risk, New York, February 14, 2008.
  31. Holdren, John P. "Meeting the Climate-Change Challenge." Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine , The John H. Chafee Memorial Lecture, National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington, D.C., January 17, 2008.
  32. "The New Team - Politics - The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2019-01-08.
  33. "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter H" (PDF). American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  34. "APS Fellow Archive". APS. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  35. "Holdren, John P." United States National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  36. "Dr. John P. Holdren". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved June 3, 2011.
  37. "The Heinz Awards :: John Holdren". heinzawards.net.
  38. "APS Member History". search.amphilsoc.org. Retrieved 2021-02-19.
  39. "About".
  40. Molly Galvin, Director, Executive Communications (2022-01-26). "John P. Holdren to Receive Public Welfare Medal – Academy's Most Prestigious Award". National Academy of Sciences . Retrieved 2022-01-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
Political offices
Preceded by
Ted Wackler
Acting
Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy
2009–2017
Succeeded by
Ted Wackler
Acting