James Gustave Speth has been appointed to a second five-year term as dean of the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies (F&ES), according to an announcement by President Richard C. Levin.
Speth, who is also a professor in the practice of environmental policy and sustainable development at F&ES, begins his second term as dean on July 1.
In a letter to the F&ES community, Levin praised Speth's efforts to make F&ES "the first truly global school of the environment." He cited the dean's success in attracting new students, faculty and donors to F&ES, and in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration both within the school and university-wide.
"Above all," noted Levin, "Gus Speth is the kind of environmental leader that the school hopes to prepare for the challenges of the future. He is a respected ambassador for the school within the Yale community, across the nation and around the globe. His efforts have advanced us toward the realization of our shared aspiration to make Yale the world's premier center for environmental science and policy. We are fortunate to have him as our dean. ..."
During Speth's first term as dean, the F&ES faculty increased by 30%; applications from both U.S. and international students rose by a third; the number of courses offered expanded by 40%, including the introduction of a new slate of undergraduate courses; over $51 million in new funding was raised; and the scholarship aid available to F&ES students doubled, as did the amount of the average scholarship.
Before coming to Yale, Speth was administrator of the United Nations Development Programme and chair of the U.N. Development Group. Previously, he was founder and president of the World Resources Institute, professor of law at Georgetown University, chair of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality, and senior attorney and co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Throughout his career, he has provided leadership and entrepreneurial initiatives to many task forces and committees dedicated to combating environmental degradation, including the President's Task Force on Global Resources and Environment, the Western Hemisphere Dialogue on Environment and Development, and the National Commission on the Environment. He has also written widely about environmental issues in such publications as Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, Environmental Science and Technology and the Columbia Journal World of Business.
In 2002, Speth received the Blue Planet Prize, presented by the Tokyo-based Asahi Glass Foundation to individuals or organizations that have made major contributions to global environmental conservation. The prize honored Speth's "lifetime of creative and visionary leadership in the search for science-based solutions to global environmental problems and for pioneering efforts to bring these issues, including global climate change, to broad international attention."
The dean has also received awards from the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Council of America, the Keystone Center, the Society for International Development, the Alliance for United Nations Sustainable Development Programs and the Senegalese government, among others.
Speth is a Yale alumnus, having earned a B.A. in 1964 and a J.D. in 1969. He also holds an M.Litt. degree from Oxford University.
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