The State University of New York and SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree (LHD) upon Dan Reicher, executive director of the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance. The honor was conferred in light of Professor Reicher’s “substantial contributions in developing and advancing tools and enterprises that reduce energy use and carbon emissions thereby significantly furthering mankind’s march toward sustainability” according to SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry President Cornelius B. Murphy Jr.

Reicher delivered the honoree speech during ESF’s convocation May 13, 2012 and explained how the ESF degree was especially meaningful since his interest in environmental science began in Syracuse, where, as a child, he rode his bike regularly from Nottingham High School to ESF, slipped quietly into the classrooms and lecture halls, and took it all in.

Reicher has more than 25 years of experience in energy technology, policy, and finance, including serving in the Clinton administration at the Department of Energy as Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and recently as a member of President Obama’s Transition Team. Reicher came to Stanford in 2011 from Google, where he served since 2007 as Director of Climate Change and Energy Initiatives.

The Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance at Stanford University, a joint center of the Stanford Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business.