Joseph E. Aoun, a leader in higher education policy and a renowned scholar in linguistics, is the seventh President of Northeastern University.
President Aoun has strategically aligned the University’s research enterprise with three global imperatives—health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern’s faculty focus on interdisciplinary research, entrepreneurship, and transforming academic research into commercial solutions for the world’s most pressing problems. During President Aoun’s tenure, the University has realized a 189 percent growth in external research funding, along with approximately 1,500 patent applications filed by faculty and students.
The climate crisis demands that businesses restructure the way they operate – from what energy they use to how they deal with waste. What forces will drive change in business practices? This panel will consider the roles of government policy, financial markets, and business activism, with views from experienced leaders in each field. The panel is moderated by professor Ben Gomes-Casseres, head of the Business of Climate Change initiative at Brandeis International Business School.
Before stepping into the role of NECEC President, Joseph A. Curtatone forged a reputation for being one of the most innovative mayors in the United States as the nine-term Mayor of Somerville, MA. That includes Somerville being named one of only 95 cities in the world to make the CDP Cities A-List for climate planning and action. He spearheaded a comprehensive net-zero action plan for his city with a strong focus on equity. He has forged regional coalitions to tackle issues around transportation, housing and COVID-19 pandemic response. Joe also worked to establish Somerville as a leader in climate technology, recruiting Greentown Labs to the city, where it has been steadily growing since 2013.
Linda T.M. Bui is Senior Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Economics at Brandeis International Business School. She does research in environmental economics, industrial organization and public economics. She received her PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has taught at Boston University, the University of Michigan, MIT and the Sloan School of Management. She was a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board Council on the Economy-wide Modeling and Environmental Justice. She is also a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board's Scientific and Technological Achievements Awards Committee. Her current research focuses on the effect of environmental regulation on health outcomes.
Adam Werbach serves as the Global Lead for Sustainable Shopping at Amazon. Adam began his sustainability career as a student activist working to pass the California Desert Protection Act, which created Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks. At age 23, he became the national president of the Sierra Club and later served on the board of Greenpeace International. He went on to help companies launch sustainable products as the Chief Sustainability Officer for Saatchi & Saatchi. He co-founded the technology company Trove, which today manages the recommerce programs for Patagonia, Eileen Fisher, Lululemon and Levi’s.
Joram Cukierman is a managing director in commodity sales at Goldman Sachs, responsible for power and physical gas sales. He first joined Goldman Sachs in 2009 as a vice president and rejoined in 2015 as a managing director. He graduated from Brandeis University in 1998 and received an MA in International Economics and Finance from Brandeis International Business school in 1999.
Ben Gomes-Casseres is the Peter A. Petri Professor of Business and Society and the head of the Business of Climate Change initiative at Brandeis International Business School. He is an authority on alliance strategy and management. He has researched this topic for 30 years, taught it to MBAs and executives and consulted with major companies worldwide. At Brandeis, Ben teaches courses on business strategy and directs the Asper Center for Global Entrepreneurship. Before coming to Brandeis, he served a decade on the faculty of the Harvard Business School; before that, he was an economist at the World Bank.
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