By Stephanie Riegle
Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs

Associate Provost Philip Hanlon has asked Deborah Goldberg, chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology in LSA, to chair the search for a new director of the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute.

Hanlon also appointed other members to the search advisory committee, which is charged with presenting an unranked slate of finalists by April.

Members are:
• Jonathan Bulkley, the Peter M. Wege Endowed Professor of Sustainable Systems and professor of resources policy, School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), and professor of civil and environmental engineering, College of Engineering (CoE)
• Stuart Batterman, professor of environmental health sciences, School of Public Health (SPH), and professor of civil and environmental engineering, CoE
• Mary Anne Carroll, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences, CoE, and professor of chemistry, LSA
• Alec Gallimore, professor of aerospace engineering, CoE, and associate dean for academic programs and initiatives, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies
• Sioban Harlow, professor of epidemiology, SPH
• Richard Norton, assistant professor of urban and regional planning, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture + Urban Planning
• Robert M. Owen, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Marine Geochemistry, Department of Geological Sciences, and director of the Program in the Environment, LSA
• Barry Rabe, professor of public policy, Gerald R Ford School of Public Policy, and professor of environmental policy, SNRE
• Brian Talbot, David B. Hermelin Professor of Business Administration and professor of operations management, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
• Levi Thompson, director of the Hydrogen Energy Technology Laboratory and professor of chemical engineering, CoE.

The Graham Institute was launched in November 2005 to advance the University’s position as a global academic leader in research and teaching of environmental sustainability.

Half of the $10.5 million cost of the center came from a gift from the Graham Foundation, a philanthropic organization established by Donald Graham and his wife, Ingrid. The Office of the Provost is providing the additional $5.25 million.

The institute, which is expected to be fully operational later this year, will focus on five crucial areas of sustainability: energy; freshwater systems; human health and its link to the changing environment; global change and biodiversity; and infrastructure and manufacturing systems.

It will continue and expand the work of more than 300 U-M faculty members, spread across seven schools, with extensive efforts in CoE, SNRE, SPH, the Ross School and LSA. Also involved are the Taubman College and Ford School.