Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Nobel Hero talks Net Zero - Ep29: Steven Chu

Episode Summary

This week, we welcome Steven Chu, Professor of Physics and Physiology at Stanford University, and the 1997 co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics to Cleaning Up. Professor Chu was was the first of two Secretaries of Energy during President’s Obama term as president, the second being Ernie Moniz, my guest on Episode 17 of Cleaning Up. He is now the Chair of the Board of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This week, we have also made it into the Top 10 Climate Change Podcasts: https://blog.feedspot.com/climate_change_podcasts/ Bio Professor Steven Chu is currently William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology at Stanford University. He is also the Chair of the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a non-profit organisation defending scientific freedom and encouraging a collaborative approach in order to serve humanity as a whole. Professor Steven Chu served as Secretary of Energy under President Barack Obama from January 2009 through to April 2013. Before that, he was leading the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory as well as being professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, from 2004 to 2009, at UC Berkeley. Prior to this, he was the Francis and Theodore Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University for 22 years starting in 1987. During this period, Chu was a co-recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his ground-breaking work in laser cooling and atom trapping Professor Steven Chu is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the American Academy of Arts Sciences, and a winner of the Humboldt Prize. Professor Chu earned his BA and BSc from the University of Rochester before receiving his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Chu has also received over 30 honorary degrees.

Episode Notes

Further reading:

Official bio  

https://physics.stanford.edu/people/steven-chu  

US Government Biography  

https://www.energy.gov/contributors/dr-steven-chu  

AAAS  

https://www.aaas.org/  

Nobel Prize  

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1997/chu/facts/  

National Academy of Sciences  

http://www.nasonline.org/  

The American Philosophical Society  

https://www.amphilsoc.org/  

SunShot Initiative  

https://www.energy.gov/eere/solar/sunshot-initiative  

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory  

https://www.lbl.gov/  

Ex-Energy Secretary Says Fixing Climate Change Is Tough, There's No Vaccine (December 2020)  

https://www.wxxinews.org/post/ex-energy-secretary-says-fixing-climate-change-tough-theres-no-vaccine  

Steven Chu Compares Energy Department Loan Program To An Unsedated Colonoscopy (June 2020)  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/06/25/steven-chu-compares-energy-department-loans-to-a-colonoscopy/?sh=14e082ae76e1  

Steven Chu: Long-Term Energy Storage Solution Has Been Here All Along (June 2020)  

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2020/06/24/steven-chu-long-term-energy-storage-solution-has-been-here-all-along/?sh=144159056607