Graciela Chichilnisky

Biographical Information
"Graciela Chichilnisky is the author of the carbon market of the UN Kyoto Protocol that became international law in 2005. She also created the concept of Basic Needs voted by 153 nations at the 1993 UN Earth Summit to be the cornerstone of Sustainable Development, and in 1996 created the formal theory of Sustainable Development that is used worldwide. Chichilnisky is a world renowned economist and mathematician that the Washington Post calls an "A-List Star" and appeared in the 2009 Time Magazine on "Heroes of the Environment". Chichilnisky acted as a US Lead Author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which received the 2007 Nobel Prize. A special adviser to several UN organizations, heads of state and US Congress, her pioneering work uses innovative market mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions, conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services.

"Chichilnisky has a Masters and a PhD in Mathematics from MIT and UC Berkeley and a second PhD in Economics from UC Berkeley. She has taught at Harvard University, Stanford and Columbia University. Dr. Chichilnisky is a Professor of Economics and Mathematical Statistics at Columbia University, Director of Columbia Consortium for Risk Management (CCRM) (http://columbiariskmanagement.org), a former Senator and UNESCO Chair in Mathematics and Economics at Columbia University, and currently the Sir Louis Matheson Distinguished Professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Distinguished Visiting Professor at Nankai University and at Beijing Normal University in China, and a Founder and Managing Director of Global Thermostat LLC (http://globalthermostat.com). Dr. Chichilnisky has authored 14 books and over 250 articles published in leading academic journals and popular news media outlets, such as Time Magazine and the Financial Times. She is a frequent commentator on CNN, ABC, BBC TV News, and Bloomberg News. Her most recent books are Saving Kyoto, published in fall 2009, and The Economics of Climate Change, published in fall 2010.

"Dr. Chichilnisky was the Founder, Chairman and CEO of a successful financial telecommunications company, FITEL, the CEO and Chairman of a successful financial technology company, Cross Border Exchange, owned by JP Morgan. She is an advisor to the Capital Institute, a member of the UK Climate Bonds Initiative, a former member of the Board of Trustees of the National Resources Defense Council. Chichilnisky is listed in Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in America, Who is Who of American Women, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who in Education and in the Dictionary of International Biography among the world's 1,000 most outstanding scientists of the 21st century. In 2007 she was identified by Hispanic Business among the top 10 most influential Latinos in the US. A native of Argentina, Professor Chichilnisky is a U.S. citizen, the mother of two children, and a resident of New York City."