Rocky Mountain Institute is governed by a self-perpetuating Board that has complete oversight and policy responsibility, is kept currently informed of the Institute's affairs, confers frequently on an individual basis with RMI's operating officers, and meets for two days twice a year.
Letter From Suzanne H. Woolsey, RMI's Lead Trustee
For more than 27 years, RMI has been a leader in both the conceptual and the practical spheres of energy efficiency and the careful choice and use of energy resources. Today, more than ever, the multi-pronged challenges of energy and resources are taking center stage, making it all the more crucial that our research and ideas stay on the leading edge.
RMI is refocusing its strategic direction, and better organizing the Institute to guarantee that we maintain this focus.
RMI’s Board of Trustees has a key role to play in this strategic shift. It’s our task to help ensure that RMI’s staff and collaborators embrace that strategic direction, and that the goals are clear and achievable, and will have a lasting impact. We also need to ensure our staff has the tools, resources, and creative space they need to drive the change we all envision. As a Board, we are responsible for making sure that RMI is working with an effective business model and a transparent structure that everyone associated with the organization understands and endorses.
It’s important that we play a thoughtful, focused, and supportive role for our staff, our sponsors, and the public. Nonprofit organizations—doing the good in the world that needs doing—require solid leadership to deliver management, decision-making, and accountability. In recent years we have worked hard to establish financial controls and to bring our corporate structure into conformance with best practices for nonprofit organizations. It is particularly important to ensure a strong financial and governance base for the imaginative research-based work of the famously visionary people of RMI.
But most significant, as Board members we appreciate the opportunities for creative and productive service that our Board positions offer us. We have a lot on our plates. We are here because we are energized by the new mission and focus, and are dedicated to RMI’s people, supporters, and game-changing work. There is no more exciting and important work we could be doing right now.
Current Board Members
John Abele
Shelburne, Vermont. BA Physics and Philosophy, Amherst College. Chairman FIRST. John is the retired Founder and Chairman of Boston Scientific Corporation a 16,000 employee, $6 billion world-wide company that is a leader in the field of “Less Invasive Medicine.” He holds numerous patents and has published and lectured extensively on the technology of various medical devices and on the technical, social, economic, and political trends and issues affecting healthcare. His major interests are science literacy for children, education, and the process by which new technology is invented, developed, and introduced to society.
Sharman Altshuler
Cambridge, Massachusetts. BA, University of Vermont; VMD, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Veterinarian. Trustee of Merck Family Fund, Burr and Burton Academy, The Farm School.
Peter Boyer
San Francisco, California. San Francisco State University; American Studies. Former owner of a design-build residential construction firm. Artist, fine art painting, exhibited widely in U.S. and Japan with works owned by numerous private and public collections. Trustee of The Ayrshire Foundation.
Mary Caulkins, Chair, Development Committee
Denver, Colorado. BA, Pitzer College. Artist, philanthropist, lead investor in one of the largest residential and solar community project in the nation following the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes (LEED-H) guidelines, in Mosier, Oregon. Director of the Caulkins Family Foundation. Held an apprenticeship at the Public Art Project at Penn. Station, New York City.
Thomas Dinwoodie
Richmond, California. BS, Structural Engineering, Cornell University; MS, Mechanical Engineering, MIT; MA, Architecture, UC at Berkeley. Founder and CTO, SunPower Corporation Systems. Founder, Former founder, CEO and Chairman of PowerLight, a leading and global supplier of PV products and systems. Author of numerous papers and holds over 30 patents on building-integrated photovoltaic and related products.
Michael Fain
Aspen, Colorado. University of Chicago; Humanities, Geology; Engineering Director, Hydrodynamics Lab, University of Chicago; Mechanical and Optical Engineer and Project Manager, various aerospace companies; Founder and former President, Alphametrics, Ltd., manufacturer of precision light measuring equipment; Co-founder and former Chairman of Computers for Kids Foundation; Board member of Aspen Center for Physics and Independence Pass Foundation; Member of National Council of NPR and Anderson Ranch Arts Center; Co-author, with wife, Judith Barnard, of eleven contemporary novels.
Suzanne Farver, Chair, Finance Committee
Woody Creek, Colorado. BA, Grinnell College (Phi Beta Kappa); JD, University of Denver; ALM in Environmental Management (Class Marshal), Harvard University. Suzanne serves on the graduate faculty and teaching staff at the Harvard University Extension School for two business sustainability classes. Former Executive Director, Aspen Art Museum, 1992-1999; Director of Development and Public Relations, Anderson Ranch Arts Center, 1990-1992. Trustee of Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Denver Art Museum and Spiritual Paths Foundation.
Arjun Gupta
San Francisco, California. MBA, Stanford University, MS and BS Computer Science, Phi Beta Kappa, Washington State University, and BA Economics, St. Stephen's College. Arjun is the Founder and Managing Partner of Telesoft Partners, a special situations venture capital firm. Over the last fifteen years, he has overseen investing in and helping build 61 companies, of which 33 companies have gone public or been acquired. Earlier in his career, Arjun was a Strategy Consultant for high-tech clients with McKinsey, where he led top management projects for Apple, AT&T, AMD, Siemens/ROLM and Vodafone. Arjun serves on the boards of Calient Networks, LogLogic, Nexant and Validity Sensors. He is a Henry Crown Fellow and Trustee of the Aspen Institute. He joined Rocky Mountain Institute’s board of trustees in the spring of 2009.
Craig Kennedy, Chair, Audit Committee
Washington, D.C. AB, Civilization Studies, University of Chicago; MBA University of Chicago; MA, Social Service Administration, University of Chicago; President of the German Marshall Fund since 1995; President of the Joyce Foundation from 1986 to 1992; employed with Richard J. Dennis, a Chicago investor and philanthropist; created a consulting firm working with nonprofit and public sector clients including the City of Chicago and the Environmental Defense Fund; serves on the Board of the nonprofit Thomas B. Fordham Foundation and as an independent trustee of the Van Kampen mutual funds.
Amory B. Lovins, Cofounder and Chief Scientist of RMI
Snowmass, Colorado. MA, Oxford (by special resolution), eight honorary doctorates; physicist, author, consultant. (Full bio)
Reuben Munger
Boston, Massachusetts. B.A., Politics and Economics, and B.S., Business Administration, magna cum laude, Washington and Lee University. Currently Chairman of Bright Automotive, an RMI spin-off company. Founder and Managing Partner of Vision Ridge Partners, L.L.C. Former Managing Director at The Baupost Group, L.L.C., a $15 billion investment firm. Mr. Munger's responsibilities included oversight of the firm's European equity investments and participation on the Trading Room Operations Committee. Chair of the Governing Board of Edvestors and Chairman of the Massachusetts Advisory Board of Stand for Children.
Martha C. Pickett, Executive Director and General Counsel of RMI
Snowmass, Colorado. BA, Guilford College; MCDP, College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado, Denver; JD, University of Denver; President, Windstar Land Conservancy; member of Advisory Board to Catawba College’s Center for the Environment. (Full bio)
Michael Potts, CEO of RMI
Denver, Colorado. BA, Beloit College. Former CEO of American Fundware; Vice President of the Public Sector Solutions division at Intuit; member of Advisory Board of the University of Colorado-Denver Business School; serves on the Board of Directors of the Kripalu Yoga Foundation, and the Curious Theater Company. (Full bio)
Chris Sawyer
Atlanta, Georgia. BA, University of North Carolina; Master of Divinity, Yale University; JD, Duke University. Partner at Alston & Bird since 1985, specializing in corporate governance, real estate and conservation issues. Former Chairman of the Board for the Trust for Public Land; Chairman of the Chattahoochee River Coordinating Committee. Serves on the Board of Directors of Industrial Developments International and of EDAW, one of the largest land consulting firms in the world. Chairman of the Board of Advisors of the Yale Divinity School.
Suzanne Woolsey, Lead Trustee
Chevy Chase, Maryland. BA, Stanford. MA, PhD, Harvard. Chief Communications Officer of The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Member, Council on Foreign Relations. Serves on boards of the German Marshall Fund, Van Kampen Mutual Funds, the Colorado College, Neurogen Corporation and Intelligent Medical Devices LLC, and the Institute for Defense Analyses. Former Associate Director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget; consulting partner, Coopers and Lybrand; member, Washington Post editorial board; Chief Operating Officer, The National Academies.
Emeritus Board Members
The following are nonvoting Emeritus Board Members:
Jimmy Mills, Mike Curzan, John Fox, Elaine Lebuhn, Dr. Michael Edessess, Dana Jackson, Dr. Adele Simmons, Michael Stranahan, Dr. David Orr
Special Advisors
The following are nonvoting Special Advisors:
Peter Bradford
Chair of the New York PSC and Maine PUC.
Jason Clay
Senior Fellow, Social Science and Economics Program, World Wildlife Fund, and Coordinator, Systems Group on Forests.
The Very Reverend James Parks Morton
Director of the Interfaith Center and Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Robert Nagourney
Founder, Rational Therapeutics Cancer Evaluation Center.
James Newcomb
Former CEO of E-Source.
Peter Schwartz
President of Global Business Network.
Bardyl Tirana, Esq.
President of the China/USA Educational Fund, former Director of the Defense Civil Preparedness Agency.