William R. Moomaw, Class of 1959

2013 Convocation

When your Williams department chair asked back in 1969 if you’d consider developing a course in environmental chemistry, he could not have known that he had triggered a reaction that would have global impact. You have since then not only lit in countless students a passion for environmental science but have also exerted your own growing influence on some of the most important issues of our day. As a Congressional Fellow you discovered how science could inform policy regarding ozone depletion, the energy crisis, and national forest management. As the first director of the Energy and Environment Program at the World Resources Institute you became hooked, by your own account, on global environmental issues and on translating science into terms that could affect policy. As the first director of the Fletcher School’s Center for International Environmental and Resource Policy you became the only chemist on the faculty of Tufts University’s graduate school of international relations. In true liberal arts fashion you have gone on to examine alternative negotiation strategies for a climate treaty, co-developed the concept of sustainable development diplomacy and governance, and, most notably, served as a lead author of reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that shared in 2007 the Nobel Peace Prize.