Miranda Massie

Last updated
Miranda Massie
20240411-Miranda-Massie002-by-Sari Goodfriend-RFC2-vert.jpg
Born
Miranda Kimball Scott Massie

December 20, 1966
Education Cornell University, Yale University, New York University
OccupationDirector of the Climate Museum
Website mirandamassie.com

Miranda Massie is an American lawyer who is the founder and director of the Climate Museum, the first museum in the US dedicated to climate change.

Contents

Early life and education

Massie was born in New York City in 1966. She grew up first in Brooklyn Heights, [1] then in New York’s Hudson River Valley. [2] Massie earned a French Baccalaureat and attended Cornell University, where she studied US History and won several honors upon her graduation in 1989. She enrolled in a Ph.D. program in History at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, which she left in 1991 with a master's degree. She then lived in Mexico City before pursuing a J.D. degree at New York University School of Law.[ citation needed ]

Career

Massie moved to Detroit, Michigan to work as a civil rights impact litigator. Her lead counsel roles included the representation of the student intervenors in the University of Michigan Law School affirmative action case, Grutter v. Bollinger, [3] [4] which resulted in a 2003 Supreme Court decision. [5] Massie moved back to New York City in 2007 to serve as a senior attorney in the environmental justice unit at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI), focusing on children's exposure to toxins in public schools. [6] She became Legal Director at NYLPI, overseeing the firm's work in the areas of environmental, health, and disability equity and also served a period as NYLPI's Interim Executive Director. [7]

Miranda Massie speaks at a Climate Museum Event Miranda Massie speaks at a Climate Museum Event.jpg
Miranda Massie speaks at a Climate Museum Event

Increasingly concerned about climate change, [8] [9] in 2014, Massie left her career as a lawyer to found the Climate Museum, where she is the director. She has overseen the presentation of its exhibitions and special programs. [10] [11] The Museum has now secured a permanent home that will open in 2029 near Hudson Yards in New York City. [12]

She is a Public Voices Fellow on the Climate Crisis with the OpEd Project and the Yale Program on Climate Communications, [13] and speaks frequently on climate and culture. [14] [15] [16] [17] Massie's civil rights impact advocacy and her cultural work on climate have been featured in a variety of print, radio, and television news outlets. [18] [19]

Miranda Massie in conversation with Olufemi O. Taiwo at The Climate Museum Miranda Massie in conversation with Olufemi O. Taiwo at The Climate Museum.jpg
Miranda Massie in conversation with Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò at The Climate Museum

References

  1. Cook, Joan (June 23, 1967). "Brooklyn Heights: Aspects Of Suburbia Within the City". The New York Times. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  2. Inglese, Elizabeth (August 8, 2016). "Meet The Woman Building America's Next Great Cultural Landmark—And Solving The Climate Crisis". MindBodyGreen. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  3. "The Impact of Grutter and Gratz". NYU Law Magazine, the Alumni Almanac. 2004. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  4. Brown-Nagin, Tomiko (June 2005). "Elites, Social Movements, and the Law: The Case of Affirmative Action". Columbia Law Review. 105 (1436). Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  5. "Supreme Court Upholds Affirmative Action: Landmark Rulings Hailed as Sweeping Victory for University of Michigan and Colleges Across the Country". Democracy Now!. June 24, 2003. Retrieved March 14, 2022.
  6. "Ridding Schools of PCBs". New York Times. February 11, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  7. "Founder of America's first climate museum". Miranda Massie. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  8. Foderaro, Lisa W. (August 21, 2015). "A Lawyer Quit Her Job to Start a Climate Museum in New York". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  9. Kormann, Carolyn (2015-05-16). "The Museum of Unnatural History". ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved 2019-03-07.
  10. "Climate Museum Team".
  11. "Taking Action". Taking Action. Retrieved 2020-02-21.
  12. "The Museums Coming in the Next 5 Years Will Be a New Way to See NYC and Washington, D.C." Travel + Leisure. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  13. Cajski, Grace (2021-04-09). "Welcome to the second cohort of the Public Voices Fellowship on the Climate Crisis". Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Retrieved 2025-03-17.
  14. "Director's Dialogue with Miranda Massie" . Retrieved March 15, 2022 via YouTube.
  15. "The Future of Cultural Centers: Miranda Massie, The Climate Museum – 10.27.2020". Center for Architecture. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  16. "Miranda Massie: A Museum for the Path Ahead" . Retrieved March 15, 2022 via YouTube.
  17. "Miranda Massie: "Climate Silence," Puerto Rico, & the Climate Museum" . Retrieved March 15, 2022 via YouTube.
  18. "The Climate Museum is the first of its kind in the U.S. — and its founder is on a mission". Washington Post. September 10, 2021. Retrieved March 15, 2022.
  19. "NYLPI on NBC 8-31-10.wmv" . Retrieved March 15, 2022 via YouTube.