| Birth name | Daniel Merson Kammen |
|---|---|
| Workplaces | University of California, Berkeley |
| Education | Cornell University (BA) Harvard University (MA, PhD) |
| Website | Official website |
Daniel Merson Kammen (born 1962)[1] is an American scientist, renewable energy expert, and former government figure. Since July 1, 2025, he has been a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at the Johns Hopkins University .[2] Before joining Hopkins, he fully retired from the University of California, Berkeley where he was the Distinguished Professor of Energy in the Energy and Resources Group [3] .
Kammen is noted as a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for their report, Climate Change 2007, assessing man-made global warming.[4] In 1998, Kammen was elected a permanent fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and in 2007 received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Commonwealth Club of California.[4] Kammen was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2025.[5]
Early life and education
Originally from Ithaca, New York, Kammen is the son of Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Cornell University professor Michael Kammen.[6] He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Cornell University (1984) and his master's degree (1986) and PhD (1988) in physics from Harvard University.[7] As a postdoctoral researcher at Caltech, Kammen began to transition to energy research, with a focus on the role of energy in developing economies.[8]
Career in government
On September 15, 2007, Kammen was appointed chief technical specialist for renewable energy and energy efficiency at the World Bank.[9]
In 2016, he was selected as a U.S. Science Envoy by the United States State Department.[10] He resigned from this position in 2017, citing what he believed to be President Trump's failure to denounce white supremacists and neo-Nazis.[11] His August 23, 2017, resignation letter went viral, as netizens noticed that the first letter of each paragraph spelled out I-M-P-E-A-C-H.[12]
Kammen has been mentioned as a potential Secretary of Energy in a Joe Biden administration.[13]
See also
- Al Gore
- Amory Lovins
- Benjamin K. Sovacool
- Hermann Scheer
- John A. "Skip" Laitner
- Lee Schipper
- Mark Z. Jacobson
- Renewable energy commercialization
- Tom Steyer
References
- ^ https://search.library.cooper.edu/permalink/01NYU_CU/1c53fbr/alma990062385540107874
- ^ "Renewable Energy Expert Daniel Kammen Joins Hopkins as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor". Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering. Johns Hopkins University. July 29, 2025. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
- ^ "Kammen resigns federal post as science envoy, and adds plug for impeachment". Berkeley News. University of California, Berkeley. August 23, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2025.
- ^ "Daniel M. Kammen - Copenhagen Climate Council". Copenhagen Climate Council. Archived from the original on 2009-01-05. Retrieved 2010-03-04.
- ^ "National Academy of Sciences Elects Members and International Members". April 29, 2025.
- ^ Schudel, Matt (December 4, 2013). "Michael Kammen, Pulitzer-winning historian, dies at 77". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
- ^ Kammen, Daniel. "Kammen CV". Retrieved May 26, 2015.
- ^ Raphael, Chris. "Dan Kammen's race against climate change". Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ Kessler, Richard A. (2010-09-10). "World Bank names California professor as clean energy chief". ReCharge. NHST Media Group. Retrieved 2010-09-11.
- ^ "Announcement of U.S. Science Envoys". United States Department of State. February 26, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
- ^ "Prominent UC professor resigns post in Trump administration". The Sacramento Bee. August 23, 2017.
- ^ Amy B Wang (August 23, 2017). "Trump's science envoy quits in scathing letter with an embedded message: I-M-P-E-A-C-H". The Washington Post
- ^ "POLITICS: Who would run Biden's DOE?". www.eenews.net. Retrieved 2020-10-08.