Francis Macy

Francis Macy (died in 2009), President, Center for Safe Energy.

"Fran was a Soviet Studies major in the 1960s and has been actively involved with the USSR and former Soviet Union for the last thirty years. His greatest commitment is in environmentalism. He was Senior Advisor to CCI’s Environmental Initiative specializing in issues of nuclear facilities and cleanup waste strategies. He still leads delegations of Americans to former Soviet nuclear weapons sites and works with local citizens on issues of waste-cleanup strategies. Fran was awarded Russia’s 2002 Environmental Prize to acknowledge his long dedication to assist with these crucial issues."

"A deep interest in the world views underlying policies that despoil the Earth, Fran Macy complemented his organizational trainings with experiential teachings in Deep Ecology. He served as Director of the Institute for Deep Ecology from 1995, and led deep ecology, transformational workshops around the world with his wife, Joanna Macy, a leading Buddhist and systems theory teacher. Together they trained people to become leaders in the broader environmental movement. Especially concerned with the dangers of nuclear contamination, he worked tirelessly to promote safe energy alternatives and was active on the Board of Tri-Valley CARES, a watchdog group at Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Lab, as well as the Nuclear Guardianship Project and the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.

"Born in Evanston, IL February, 1927, the youngest of four brothers, Macy attended North Shore County Day School and Wesleyan University, where he majored in Government and was active in Drama. He then received an M.A. in Slavic Studies at Harvard University. Fran was one of the first students to racially integrate student living arrangements, both at Wesleyan and at Harvard. Former roommates Ernie Howell, the former director of the Asian Society and Chuck Stone, the eminent African American journalist, became lifelong friends. He married Joanna Rogers in 1953.

"Macy's life was emblematic of the 20th century. Feeling called to play a role in the great drama of his age--the Cold War struggle between the U.S. and the USSR--he learned Russian and in the 1950's, he worked for Radio Liberty, a Russian language radio station based in Munich. In 1961, at the time of the "thaw" under Khruschev, he led the first US traveling exhibit to the USSR, recruiting young Russian-speaking American graduate students to serve as exhibit guides. People cued up for hours to meet Americans for the first time. This introduction to people-to-people diplomacy motivated Fran Macy to decline a prestigious Moscow post and opt for service to the American Peace Corps. For eight years, from 1964 to 1972, he served as Deputy Peace Corps Director in India, as country Director in Tunisia and Nigeria, and then as director for all Peace Corps programs in Africa.

"From the Peace Corps, Macy's career journey led him to create the Central New York Regional Learning Service, a first of its kind service to counsel adults on life changes. Based on the success of this model, Macy developed a national organization to support the development of similar services around the country.

"Macy's career then evolved into Directing the Association of Humanist Psychology, where he developed their Soviet Exchange Program that brought delegations of educators and psychologists to Russia for professional exchanges and trainings. Macy's Soviet citizen diplomacy work later expanded and encompassed critical environmental and energy issues faced by the former Soviet Union that led to the creation of the Center for Safe Energy with Enid Schreibman, who was Co-Director with Macy..."


 * Director, Center for Citizen Initiatives
 * Director, Sacred Earth Network

His wife was Joanna Macy.