News & Stories

Energy Center Names Inaugural Fellow

Posted Apr 09 2013

As part of its commitment to pursuing research on the rapidly changing energy landscape and offering real-world solutions to our most pressing energy challenges, the new Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) announced today that the first fellow in its CGEP Fellows Program will be David Sandalow, the assistant secretary for policy and international affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy. Sandalow, who also served as under secretary of energy (acting) for much of the past year, will be the inaugural fellow at the center and a senior research scholar at Columbia SIPA.

During his time at the University, Sandalow will pursue a range of issues including U.S.-China energy relations, advanced vehicle technology policy and clean energy finance. Prior to serving at the U.S. Department of Energy, Sandalow was energy and environment scholar and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program of the Brookings Institution, as well as energy and climate change working group chair at the Clinton Global Initiative. He has also served as an assistant secretary of state and senior director on the National Security Council staff. Sandalow is the author of Freedom from Oil (McGraw-Hill, 2008) and editor of Plug-In Electric Vehicles: What Role for Washington? (Brookings Press, 2009).

“David is one of the leading energy experts in the country, and we are thrilled to welcome him to Columbia,” said Robert Lieberman, dean of the School of International and Public Affairs. “This is an example of the sort of aggressive steps we are taking to provide independent, balanced, data-driven analysis to help policymakers navigate the complex world of energy and achieve our vision of becoming the premier energy policy center in the world with both a domestic and global perspective.”

Jason Bordoff, director of the Center on Global Energy Policy, said, “This news is another sign of the growing momentum we’re experiencing at the Center. David has real-world policy experience at the most senior levels, as well as a proven track record of excellence in scholarship from his time as a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and the impact his participation will have on policymakers, students, and other academics can’t be overstated.”

The Fellows Program will bring leading energy policy thought leaders to the Center on Global Energy Policy for six to twelve months at a time to research and write, offer not-for-credit study groups with students, and otherwise contribute to Columbia University's robust and deep intellectual community focused on energy issues. Sandalow joins the University on June 1 and will be a fellow until May 31, 2014.