John Holdren

John Holdren is Professor Emeritus in the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California, Berkeley, where he held faculty appointments from 1973 to 1996 as Assistant Professor (1973-1975), Associate Professor (1975-1978), and Professor of Energy and Resources (1978-1996). Recruited in 1972 as Berkeley's first assistant professor of energy and resources, he co-founded and co-led the interdisciplinary Energy and Resources Group (ERG), developing it into a program that admits students, offers courses, grants degrees, and hosts core faculty. Holdren earned an S.B. (1965) and S.M. (1966) in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. (1970) in aerospace engineering and theoretical plasma physics from Stanford University. Prior to Berkeley, he served as a theoretical physicist in the Magnetic Fusion Energy Division at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (1970-1972) and Senior Research Fellow at the California Institute of Technology (1972-1973).

Holdren's research specializations encompass environmental policy, science and technology policy, energy technologies and policies, climate change, nuclear arms control, and global security. He has influenced these fields through leadership roles, including chair of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control (1994-2005), service on President Clinton's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, and as President Obama's Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2009-2017). Major awards include one of the first MacArthur Prize Fellowships (1981), Volvo Environment Prize (1993), Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement (2000), Heinz Award for Public Policy (2001), Arthur Bueche Award from the National Academy of Engineering (2021), and the 2026 Karl Compton Medal from the American Institute of Physics. He accepted the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs as its chair. Key publications feature 'Permafrost carbon feedbacks threaten global climate goals' (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2021), 'The Overwhelming Case for No First Use' (Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 2020), and 'Energy: A Crisis in Power' (1971).