School Notes: School of the Environment
January/February 2015

F&ES launches dual degree with Beijing university

In October, F&ES announced a dual-degree program with Tsinghua University School of Environment, which is located in Beijing, China. School leaders say the dual degree—to be introduced during the 2015–16 academic year—will allow students at Tsinghua to bolster their skills in environmental policy and management, and at the same time will enable Yale students to enhance their expertise in key areas of environmental engineering. The program will also connect Yale and Tsinghua students to leading environmental researchers and practitioners in both the United States and China. “Securing a healthy environment and developing more sustainable patterns of consumption will be among the defining global challenges of the twenty-first century,” said F&ES dean Peter Crane. “Through this new partnership Yale and Tsinghua can play a key role in preparing leaders who can make a real difference in these critical areas. . . . Over time, we also expect that this closer relationship will encourage closer research collaboration among outstanding faculty at Tsinghua and at Yale.”

Teresa Heinz receives Leopold Award

Teresa Heinz, the philanthropist and longtime advocate for environmental awareness and literacy, was named the recipient of the Aldo Leopold Award, the highest honor granted by F&ES. An active proponent for environmental issues in the US and globally, Heinz is chair of the Heinz Endowments and the Heinz Family Philanthropies, which support various social and environmental causes. At F&ES, she has supported student scholarships and conferences, and she made a gift to establish the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professorship in Chemistry for the Environment at Yale. That chair is currently held by Paul Anastas. “I’ve devoted my life to advancing green chemistry, and I believe there is no better champion of green chemistry than Teresa Heinz,” Anastas said. The award was presented during a ceremony at F&ES on November 10. Heinz is just the third person to receive the award. Previous recipients were F. Herbert Bormann, the late F&ES professor whose research first called the world’s attention to the threat of acid rain; and Frances Beinecke ’71, ’74MFS, longtime president of the Natural Resources Defense Council.