Bill Green to direct MIT Energy Initiative

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that William H. Green will become the director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) effective April 1, 2024. Robert Stoner, who has served as interim director of MITEI since July 2023, has generously agreed to stay on through June to ensure a smooth transition.

Bill will build on MITEI’s record of achievement under inaugural director Ernest Moniz, and subsequently under Robert C. Armstrong, who retired as MITEI director last year, having served in the role for a decade.

I am confident that Bill is the right person to lead MITEI in its next chapter. A world-renowned expert in chemical kinetics and Hoyt C. Hottel Professor of Chemical Engineering, Bill leads a research team focused on reaction kinetics, quantum chemistry, numerical methods, and fuel chemistry. He has also performed techno-economic assessments of proposed fuel and vehicle changes and biofuel production options, and he has published several papers on spectroscopy, numerical methods, and applications of machine learning to chemical problems.

Bill has published and spoken widely, and his research has been honored with several major awards, including the AIChE 2019 Wilhelm Award in Reaction Engineering. Bill served as the executive officer of the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering from 2012 to 2015 and was the editor of the International Journal of Chemical Kinetics from 2008 to 2013. He holds several patents. Bill has been an active participant in MITEI; his broad view of energy science and technology will be a major asset and will position him well to contribute to the success of MIT’s exciting new Climate Project.

I am grateful to the members of the search committee, led by emeritus Institute Professor John Deutch, for their keen insight and advice during the search.

Outgoing interim director Robert Stoner

Rob joined MITEI in 2009 and helped build it into the leading research and education hub that it is today. He maintained a focus on the role of energy in the developing world, and in 2012 became the founding director of the MIT Tata Center for Technology and Design. He continued to lead the Tata Center after being appointed the following year as MITEI’s deputy director for science and technology. With his longtime collaborator, Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, Rob established the Global Commission to End Energy Poverty in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation. The startup company that Rob and Ignacio co-founded with other members of their research team, Waya Energy, works to support the national electrification strategies of developing countries around the world.

Please join me in thanking Rob for his long-standing service to MITEI and welcoming Bill to his new role.

Sincerely,

Maria T. Zuber
Vice President for Research