Daniel Sperling is an international leader and expert in energy and climate policy, and a serial academic entrepreneur. He is Professor of Engineering and Environmental Science and Policy and founding Director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at University of California, Davis. He also founded the Energy Efficiency Center, Transportation Technology and Policy Graduate program, and Policy Institute for Energy, Environment, and the Economy at UC Davis. He has held the transportation seat on the California Air Resources Board since 2007, served as chair of the California Fuel Cell Partnership in 2013, and as vice chair and chair of the Transportation Research Board in 2014-15.
He received the 2013 Blue Planet Prize for being “a pioneer in opening up new fields of study to create more efficient, low-carbon, and environmentally beneficial transportation systems”; and 2010 Heinz Award for his “achievements in the research of alternative transportation fuels and his responsibility for the adoption of cleaner transportation policies in California and across the United States.” In the past 4 years, he has been a keynote speaker at 60 universities and conferences, featured on the Jon Stewart Daily Show, NPR’s Science Friday, Talk of the Nation, and Fresh Air, and published op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, and LA Times. He is author or editor of 200+ papers and reports and 12 books (including Two Billion Cars), has served on 14 National Academies committees, recently chaired the Future of Mobility committee of the (Davos) World Economic Forum, and is lead author for the IPCC (shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize).
Professor Sperling earned his Ph.D. in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (with minors in Economics and Energy & Resources) and his B.S. in Environmental Engineering and Urban Planning from Cornell University. Professor Sperling worked two years as an environmental planner for the US Environmental Protection Agency and two years as an urban planner in the Peace Corps in Honduras.