Claussen, a climate and energy policy administrator, diplomat and sustainability expert, will share insights and advice with business students.
Under Claussen’s leadership, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES), formerly the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, has become widely recognized as a leading independent voice for practical policy and action to address the twin challenges of energy and climate change. Claussen established the center’s Business Environmental Leadership Council, which is the largest U.S.-based group of corporations committed to advancing both policy and business solutions to climate change. She retired as president of C2ES in 2014.
As a Love School of Business Executive-in-Residence, Claussen will advise students on career options in sustainability and the public sector, and share insights from her career. Additionally, she will advise the school on its sustainability curriculum.
“Eileen is an expert on issues of sustainability and has negotiated on behalf of the United States, as well as partnered with the best-known companies to find solutions that spur sustainability efforts,” said Raghu Tadepalli, dean of the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business. “We look forward to her advice and help as we build up our offerings in the area of sustainability. In addition, since the government has become such an integral part of business decision making, I hope many of our students will speak to her about exploring job opportunities in the government sector.”
Claussen began her career with positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, Boise Cascade and the U.S. Department of Defense. From 1987 to 1993, she was the director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs for the Environmental Protection Agency, where she led efforts to protect the ozone layer and managed EPA’s energy efficiency programs, including creation of the popular Energy Star program. Claussen was instrumental in negotiating and implementing the Montreal Protocol, a treaty curbing the production of ozone-depleting CFCs.
From 1993 to 1996, Claussen served as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Environmental Affairs at the National Security Council. She went on to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, where she led U.S. diplomacy on issues such as global warming, biodiversity, forest management, oceans, desertification and trade and the environment, as well as on the environmental and sustainable development efforts of the multilateral banks and the United Nations.
During her career, Claussen received numerous honors, including the Fitzhugh Green Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Environmental Protection, the Meritorious Executive Award for Sustained Superior Accomplishment, the Department of State’s Career Achievement Award and the Distinguished Executive Award for Sustained Extraordinary Accomplishment. She also served as the Timothy Atkeson Scholar in Residence at Yale University.
Claussen is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Singapore Energy advisory committee, and the advisory board of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford.
She received a bachelor’s degree from George Washington University, a master’s degree in English from the University of Virginia and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Loughboro University in the United Kingdom.