The popular Leading Voices lecture series returns this summer with the newest edition, titled “Leading Voices in Energy, Sustainability, and Security.” The lineup, which features six speakers, begins on July 11.
The speakers are:
- July 11: Elizabeth Wilson, associate professor at the University of Minnesota
- July 18: Dan Reicher ’78, executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University
- July 25: James Manwell, director of the Wind Energy Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
- August 1: Janet Milne, director of the Environmental Tax Policy Institute at Vermont Law School
- August 8: William McDonough ’73, co-author of The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance
- August 15: Seamus McGraw, author of The End of Country
“Energy technology and energy policy are constantly changing, and scientists studying sustainability and global change science continue to make new discoveries, so this is an extremely dynamic field,” says Friedland. “My hope is that students will acquire a core body of knowledge and improve their abilities to think, read and write critically about energy, policy and sustainability. ”
The Leading Voices lecture series was inspired by the Great Issues course, instituted by President John Dickey in 1947, in which Dartmouth seniors heard lectures from journalists, politicians, and other well-known figures discussing the pressing matters of the day. Leading Voices began in 2011, and has featured visits from decorated guests including Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, university presidents, and presidential candidates.
(Courtesy of Elizabeth Wilson)
Here’s a look at this summer’s speakers:
July 11: Elizabeth Wilson
Wilson, an associate professor of energy and environmental policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, will give a lecture titled “Wind: Turbines, Transmission and Integration.”
An expert on climate change, Wilson has worked for the Environmental Protection Agency and served as a Leopold Leadership Fellow at Stanford University. In 2009, she was a member of a U.S. and China delegation that studied carbon dioxide capture and storage.
Wilson researches how state, regional, and local policies, as well as geography, shape energy systems.
July 18: Dan Reicher ’78
Reicher, who has worked for the Carter, Clinton, and Obama administrations, serves as executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University. Reicher will speak about “Smart Policy and Finance for Clean Energy.”
Reicher worked at Google from 2007 to 2011 as director of climate change energy initiatives. He has been named as one of the top five most influential figures in U.S. clean energy by Oilprice.com.
Reicher, who has taught at the Yale University School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and at Vermont Law School, is as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Board on Energy and Environmental Systems and co-chairman of the American Council on Renewable Energy. He is also a member of the Dartmouth Alumni Council.
July 25: James Manwell
Manwell, director of the Wind Energy Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, will give a lecture titled “Wind Energy and Resistance in New England and Beyond.”
The recipient of numerous awards for his research on wind energy, Manwell serves as the U.S. representative to the International Electrotechnical Commission program to develop design standards for offshore wind turbines. He is a member of the International Science Panel on Renewable Energy and has authored the textbook Wind Energy Explained: Theory, Design, and Application.
August 1: Janet Milne
Milne is a professor of law and the director of the Environmental Tax Policy Institute at Vermont Law School (VLS). She will give a talk titled “Carbon Taxes: A Path Forward?”
An internationally recognized expert on environmental tax policies, Milne has taught at VLS since 1995. She created the Environmental Tax Policy Institute in 2000, and serves as a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section’s Environmental Taxes Committee. A graduate of Williams College and Georgetown University Law Center, Milne has worked as an attorney for The Washington Post, as a legislative assistant to a U.S. senator, and as associate director of the Maine Coast Heritage Fund.
Milne served as special counsel to the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth from 1994 to 1999.
August 8: William McDonough ’73
McDonough, whom TIME magazine called one of the “heroes of the environment,” is co-author of the book The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance.
The title of the book will also serve as the lecture title for McDonough’s talk at Dartmouth.
A graduate of Yale University School of Architecture, McDonough has been at the forefront of sustainable architectural design for years. He received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development in 1996, a National Design Award in 2004, and was named designer of the year by Interiors magazine in 1999. In 2002, McDonough co-authored the book Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. He has also served as dean of the University of Virginia School of Architecture.
August 15: Seamus McGraw
McGraw, author of the book The End of Country, will speak at Dartmouth about “Facing the Peril and Promise of Energy in an Age of Climate Change.”
McGraw, a journalist, has been awarded the Freedom of Information Award from the Associated Press Managing Editors. He has been honored by the Casey Foundation and the Society of Professional Journalists.
In The End of Country, McGraw writes about his native northeastern Pennsylvania and the conflict between area residents and gas companies after the discovery that the land holds some of the world’s richest Marcellus gas deposits. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune called the nonfiction work “a rare, beautiful, and, yes, sometimes heartbreaking examination of the echoes of water-powered natural gas drilling—or fracking—in the human community.”
About “Leading Voices:
The “Leading Voices” series started in 2011. The first season, “Leading Voices in Politics and Policy,” brought national political figures, presidential candidates, and policymakers to campus. Last summer’s “Leading Voices in U.S. Foreign Policy” included talks with a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, a former Defense Department official, and a retired Navy admiral. The “Leading Voices in Higher Education” series, part of the strategic planning process, featured visits from prominent figures in higher education and concluded this spring.
