September 9th, 2014
To the President and Trustees of Boston University:
The climate change crisis is threatening life on Earth, and demands immediate and
transformative actions by individuals, governments, businesses, and institutions.
The extent of this crisis has only become clearer with the release of the most recent
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report,1 which outlines the ongoing effects
and future threats of climate change, including: increased scarcity of food and fresh
water; extreme weather events; rise in sea level; loss of biodiversity; areas becoming
uninhabitable; and mass human migration, conflict and violence. In response, the
American Association for the Advancement of Science has issued this dire warning: “the
wellbeing of people of all nations [is] at risk.”2
Because it is unlikely that fossil fuel interests (the major source of this crisis) will stop of
their own accord their unrelenting drive to burn these fuels at current rates, we must find
strategies to induce them to stop. As one step in this effort, the undersigned faculty
members, together with the DivestBU student movement, are urging Boston University
to divest its financial investments in fossil fuel interests. We recognize that the transition
to a post-fossil fuel society will be complex, but we must begin to take meaningful action
to promote a rapid phasing out of fossil fuel use.
There is ample evidence3 to suggest that careful divestment will result in no significant
financial hardships for institutions like Boston University. Furthermore, since the true
costs of carbon dioxide emissions are currently not taken into account in determining
fossil fuel companies’ stock prices, investing in them is becoming increasingly risky (the
‘carbon bubble’).4 Most importantly, we have a moral obligation to align our financial
interests with the future of our planet. It is wrong to use our endowment to commission
the destruction of a hospitable climate for our students, our children and - as is
increasingly evident - ourselves. There is a long history of responsible investors who
redirected investments away from socially unacceptable enterprises, and, indeed, our
institution has twice before taken action to disengage from financially reprehensible
actions (i.e., divesting from the Darfur genocide and partially from Apartheid South
Africa).5 Furthermore, Boston University has shown a real commitment to climate
change concerns through its sustainability and energy efficiency programs. The time
has come again to take another clear leadership role – this time taking action that will
accelerate solutions to the climate change crisis.
Thus, we are calling upon Boston University to divest from its fossil fuel holdings as a
moral, rational, and prudent step to take to help stop the climate catastrophe. Our call
aligns us with a growing list of universities, municipalities, and organizations that have
already divested.6
The wake up call has sounded. It is time to act!
1
Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, IPCC WGII AR5
Summary Statement for Policymakers,
http://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/IPCC_WG2AR5_SPM_Approved.pdf
2
What We Know (2014), AAAS, http://whatweknow.aaas.org/get-the-facts/
3
For example, see: Patrick Geddes (Chief Financial Officer, Aperio Group), Do the
Investment Math: Building a Carbon-Free Portfolio (2013).
Http://www.aperiogroup.com/system/files/documents/building_a_carbon_free_portfolio.p
df
4
See, for example, the recent reports on the ‘carbon bubble’ by the Carbon Tracker
Initiative group: http://www.carbontracker.org/site/carbonbubble
5
Leslie Friday, “New Socially Responsible Investing Committee Meets This Week,” BU
Today, December 2, 2013; Muriel Cohen and Fletcher Roberts, “BU Votes to Divest
Selectively,” Boston Globe, April 27, 1979, pg. 19.
6
gofossilfree.org
Name
Rank/Position
Department/School
1. Barbara Brown
Director of Outreach
African Studies Center
2. Shahla Haeri
Assoc. Prof.
Anthropology
3. Jenny White
Prof.
Anthropology
4. Laurie LaPorte
Lecturer
Anthropology
5. James McCann
Prof.
Archeology & History
6. Chris Roosevelt
Assoc. Prof.
Archeology
7. Paul Goldberg
Prof.
Archeology
8. Daniel Ranalli
Prof.
Arts Administration Program
9. Nancy Crooker
Research Prof.
Astronomy
10. Adrien Finzi
Prof.
Biology
11. Francisco Naya
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
12. Fred Wasserman
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
13. Jen-Wei Lin
Prof.
Biology
14. John Celenza
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
15. Karen Warkentin
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
16. Trevor Siggers
Assist. Prof.
Biology
17. William Eldred
Prof.
Biology
18. Cynthia Bradham
Assist. Prof.
Biology
19. Ed Loechler
Prof.
Biology
20. Les Kaufman
Prof.
Biology
21. Ian Davison
Assist. Prof.
Biology
22. Horatio Frydman
Assist. Prof.
Biology
23. James Traniello
Prof.
Biology
24. Michael Baum
Prof.
Biology
25. Kathryn Spilios
Lecturer
Biology
26. Christopher Schneider
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
27. Karina Baum
Lecturer
Biology
28. John Finnerty
Assoc. Prof.
Biology
29. Gloria Callard
Prof.
Biology
30. Gary Benson
Assoc. Prof.
Biology, Computer Science,
Bioinformatics
31. Ahmad Khalil
Assist. Prof.
Biomedical Engineering
32. Bela Suki
Prof.
Biomedical Engineering
33. Sean Elliott
Assoc. Prof.
Chemistry
34. Adrian Whitty
Assoc. Prof.
Chemistry
35. John Snyder
Prof.
Chemistry
36. John Caradonna
Assoc. Prof.
Chemistry
37. Linda Doerrer
Assoc. Prof.
Chemistry
38. Assaf Kfoury
Prof.
Computer Science
39. Richard West
Assoc. Prof.
Computer Science
40. Margrit Betke
Prof.
Computer Science
41. Andrei Lapets
Lecturer
Computer Science
42. Kyna Hamill
Lecturer
Core Curriculum
43. Alan Strahler
Prof.
Earth & Environment
44. James Baldwin
Lecturer
Earth & Environment
45. Rick Reibstein
Lecturer
Earth & Environment
46. Nathan Phillips
Prof.
Earth & Environment
47. Ranga Myneni
Prof.
Earth & Environment
48. Mark Friedl
Prof.
Earth & Environment
49. Suchi Gopal
Prof.
Earth & Environment
50. Cutler Cleveland
Prof.
Earth & Environment
51. Rachael Garrett
Adjunct Assist. Prof.
Earth & Environment
52. Randall Ellis
Prof.
Economics
53. Johannes Schmieder
Assist. Prof.
Economics
54. Douglas Zook
Assoc. Prof.
Education
55. Peter Garik
Clinical Assoc. Prof.
Education
56. Don DeRosa
Clinical Assoc. Prof.
Education
57. Marcia Edson
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Education
58. Charles White
Assoc. Prof.
Education
59. Christopher Martell
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Education
60. John McCarthy
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Education
61. Jennifer Green
Assist. Prof.
Education
62. Robert Hoffmeister
Assoc. Prof.
Education
63. Bruce Fraser
Prof.
Education
64. Christina Dobbs
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Education
65. Jane Lannak
Clinical Assoc. Prof.
Education
66. Siddharth Ramachandran Prof.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
67. Robert Kotiuga
Assoc. Prof.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
68. Theodore Moustakas
Prof.
Electrical & Computer Engineering
69. Anita Patterson
Prof.
English
70. Carrie Preston
Assoc. Prof.
English
71. Charles Rzepka
Prof.
English
72. Ha Jin
Prof.
English
73. James Siemon
Prof.
English
74. John Paul Riquelme
Prof.
English
75. Julia Brown
Prof.
English
76. Leslie Epstein
Prof.
English
77. Susan Mizruchi
Prof.
English
78. Maurice Lee
Prof.
English
79. Eugene Green
Prof. Emeritus
English
80. Sam Kauffman
Prof.
Film & Television
81. John Bernstein
Assoc. Prof.
Film & Television
82. Mary Jane Doherty
Assoc. Prof.
Film & Television
83. Garland Waller
Assist. Prof.
Film & Television
84. Roy Grundmann
Assoc. Prof.
Film & Television
85. Susan Kandarian
Prof.
Health Sciences
86. Helen Barbas
Prof.
Health Sciences
87. Kristin Baker
Assist. Research Prof. Health Sciences
88. Nina Silber
Prof.
History
89. Jeffrey Rubin
Assoc. Prof.
History
90. Jonathan Zatlin
Assoc. Prof.
History
91. Sarah Phillips
Assoc. Prof.
History
92. Arianne Chernock
Assoc. Prof.
History
93. Jon Roberts
Prof.
History
94. Marilyn Halter
Prof.
History & American Studies
95. David Mayers
Prof.
History & Political Science
96. Keith Morgan
Prof.
History of Art & Architecture and
American & New England Studies
97. Deborah Kahn
Assoc. Prof.
History of Art & Architecture
98. James Schmidt
Prof.
History, Philosophy, & Political
Science
99. Adam Sweeting
Assoc. Prof.
Humanities Division - College of
General Studies
100. Meg Tyler
Assoc. Prof.
Humanities Division - College of
General Studies
101. Christopher Fahy
Lecturer
Humanities Division - College of
General Studies
102. Neal Leavitt
Senior Lecturer
Humanities Division - College of
General Studies
103. Mitchell Zuckoff
Prof.
Journalism
104. Chris Daly
Assoc. Prof.
Journalism
105. Susan Akram
Prof.
Law
106. David Lyons
Prof.
Law & Philosophy
107. Stacey Dogan
Prof.
Law
108. Robert Volk
Prof.
Law
109. Robert Sloane
Prof.
Law
110. Gerald Leonard
Prof.
Law
111. Alan B. Cohen
Prof.
Management
112. Siobhan O’Mahony
Assoc. Prof.
Management
113. Olga Hawn
Assist. Prof.
Management
114. Samina Karim
Assoc. Prof.
Management
115. Stephanie Watts
Assoc. Prof.
Management
116. Erin Reid
Assist. Prof.
Management
117. Jacob Groshek
Assist. Prof.
Mass Communication, Advertising &
Public Relations
118. David Rohrlich
Prof.
Mathematics & Statistics
119. Margaret Beck
Assist. Prof.
Mathematics & Statistics
120. Takashi Kimura
Prof.
Mathematics & Statistics
121. Joseph Zaia
Prof.
Medicine - Biochemistry
122. Valentina Perissi
Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Biochemistry
123. Karina Schon
Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Anatomy & Neurobiology
124. Robert Joseph
Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Anatomy & Neurobiology
125. Jennifer Luebke
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Anatomy & Neurobiology
126. Farzad Mortazavi
Insructor
Medicine - Anatomy & Neurobiology
127. Ivana Delalle
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Pathology & Laboratory
Medicine
128. Shi Yang
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Pathology & Laboratory
Practice
129. John Cho Lee
Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Pathology & Laboratory
Practice
130. Barbara Slack
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Pathology & Laboratory
Practice
131. Barbara Nikolajczyk
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Microbiology
132. Gustavo Mostoslavsky
Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Microbiology
133. Jennifer SnyderCappione
Research Assist. Prof. Medicine - Microbiology
134. Jeffrey Browning
Research Prof.
Medicine - Microbiology
135. Richard Cohen
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
136. Stefano Monti
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
137. Robert Friedman
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine; Public
Health - Biostatistics, Epidemiology
138. Thomas Perls
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
139. Richard Sherva
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
140. Susan Phillips
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
141. Rebecca Silliman
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine; Public
Health - Epidemiology
142. Thomas Barber
Prof.
Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
143. Karsten Lunze
Research Assist. Prof. Medicine - Dept. of Medicine
144. James Hudspeth
Instructor
Medicine – Dept. of Medicine
145. Amresh Hanchate
Assist. Prof.
Medicine – Dept. of Medicine
146. Shelley Russek
Prof.
Medicine - Pharmacology, Biology &
Program in Neuroscience
147. Susan Leeman
Prof.
Medicine - Pharmacology
148. Olga Gursky
Prof.
Medicine - Physiology & Biophysics
149. Donald Small
Prof.
Medicine - Physiology & Biophysics
150. David Atkinson
Prof.
Medicine - Physiology & Biophysics
151. Esther Bullitt
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Physiology & Biophysics
152. Sudha Seshadri
Prof.
Medicine - Neurology
153. Samuel Frank
Assoc. Prof.
Medicine - Neurology
154. Ali Guermazi
Prof.
Medicine - Radiology
155. Ducksoo Kim
Prof.
Medicine - Radiology
156. Adam Lerner
Prof.
Medicine - Hematology & Medical
Oncology
157. Ellen Silver Highfield
Assoc. Res. Prof.
Medicine - Family Medicine
158. Paul Barbone
Prof.
Mechanical Engineering
159. Daniel Hudon
Lecturer
Metropolitan College - Astronomy
160. Maureen Sullivan
Lecturer
Metropolitan College - Sociology
161. J. Keith Vincent
Assoc. Prof.
Modern Languages & Comparative
Literature
162. Roberta Micallef
Assoc. Prof.
Modern Languages & Comparative
Literature
163. Sunil Sharma
Assoc. Prof.
Modern Languages & Comparative
Literature
164. Wiebke Denecke
Assoc. Prof.
Modern Languages & Comparative
Literature
165. Bayla Keyes
Assoc. Prof.
Music
166. Linda Jiorle-Nagy
Assist. Prof.
Music
167. Lucia Lin
Assoc. Prof.
Music
168. Joshua Rifkin
Prof.
Music
169. Martin Pearlman
Prof.
Music - Historical Performance
170. Phyllis Hoffman
Prof.
Music - Voice & Opera
171. Sharon Daniels
Assoc. Prof.
Music - Voice & Opera
172. Jason Yust
Assist. Prof.
Music Composition & Theory
173. Andre de Quadros
Prof.
Music Education
174. Richard Bunbury
Lecturer
Music Education
175. Jennifer Gottlieb
Research Assist. Prof. Occupational Therapy
176. Aaron Garrett
Assoc. Prof.
Philosophy
177. Alisa Bokulich
Assoc. Prof.
Philosophy
178. Juliet Floyd
Prof.
Philosophy
179. Susanne Sreedhar
Assoc. Prof.
Philosophy
180. Martin Schmaltz
Prof.
Physics
181. Pankaj Mehta
Assist. Prof.
Physics
182. Neta C. Crawford
Prof.
Political Science
183. Dino Christenson
Assist. Prof.
Political Science
184. Irene Gendzier
Prof. Emeritus
Political Science
185. Paul Lipton
Research Assoc. Prof. Program in Neuroscience (CAS)
186. Deborah Belle
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
187. Deborah Kelemen
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
188. Kathleen MalleyMorrison
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
189. Catherine CaldwellHarris
Assoc. Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
190. Jacqueline Liederman
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
191. Helen Tager-Flusberg
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
192. Melissa Kibbe
Assist. Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
193. James Cherry
Prof.
Psychological & Brain Sciences
194. David Ozonoff
Prof.
Public Health - Environmental
Health
195. Michael McClean
Assoc. Prof.
Public Health - Environmental
Health
196. David Sherr
Prof.
Public Health - Environmental
Health
197. Candice Belanoff
Clinical Assist. Prof.
Public Health - Community Health
Sciences
198. Elizabeth Hatch
Prof.
Public Health - Epidemiology
199. Lauren Wise
Assoc. Prof.
Public Health - Epidemiology
200. Mark Glickman
Research Prof.
Public Health - Health Policy &
Management
201. Jacob Bor
Assist. Prof.
Public Health - Global Health
202. Kirk Dearden
Assoc. Prof.
Public Health - Global Health
203. Davidson Hamer
Prof.
Public Health - Global Health &
School of Medicine
204. Hillel Levine
Prof.
Religion
205. Michael Zank
Prof.
Religion
206. Deeana Klepper
Assoc. Prof.
Religion
207. Diana Lobel
Assoc. Prof.
Religion
208. Charles Henebry
Lecturer
Rhetoric Division - College of
General Studies
209. Stephanie Byttebier
Lecturer
Rhetoric Division - College of
General Studies
210. Jim Iffland
Prof.
Romance Studies
211. Christopher Maurer
Prof.
Romance Studies
212. Dennis Costa
Assoc. Prof.
Romance Studies
213. John McGrath
Assoc. Prof.
Social Sciences Division - College
of General Studies
214. Richard Samuel Deese
Lecturer
Social Sciences Division - College
of General Studies
215. Susan Lee
Master Lecturer
Social Sciences Division - College
of General Studies
216. Lee Staples
Clinical Prof.
Social Work
217. Ellen DeVoe
Assoc. Prof.
Social Work
218. Maryann Amodeo
Prof.
Social Work
219. Ruth Paris
Assoc. Prof.
Social Work
220. Alya Guseva
Assoc. Prof.
Sociology
221. David Swartz
Assist. Prof.
Sociology
222. Emily Barman
Assoc. Prof.
Sociology
223. John Stone
Prof.
Sociology
224. Julian Go
Prof.
Sociology
225. Nicole Aschoff
Lecturer
Sociology
226. Peter Yeager
Assoc. Prof.
Sociology
227. Stephen Kalberg
Assoc. Prof.
Sociology
228. Susan Eckstein
Prof.
Sociology
229. Itai Vardi
Lecturer
Sociology
230. Patricia Rieker
Visiting Prof.
Sociology
231. Sigrun Olafsdottir
Assoc. Prof.
Sociology
232. Clay Hopper
Lecturer
Theatre
233. Mark Stanley
Assoc. Prof.
Theatre
234. John Hart
Prof.
Theology - Christian Ethics
235. Hugh O’Donnell
Prof.
Visual Arts
236. Chris Walsh
Assist. Prof. & Assoc.
Director
Writing Program
237. Diane Greco-Josefowicz Lecturer
Writing Program
238. Frederic Fitts
Lecturer
Writing Program
239. Stephen Hodin
Lecturer
Writing Program
240. Joelle Renstrom
Lecturer
Writing Program
241. Marisa Milanese
Senior Lecturer &
Assoc. Director
Writing Program
242. Deborah Breen
Senior Lecturer
Writing Program
243. David Shawn
Senior Lecturer
Writing Program
244. Sarah Madsen Hardy
Senior Lecturer
Writing Program
245. Jura Avizienis
Lecturer
Writing Program & Core Curriculum