Varun Sivaram is the Philip D. Reed Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.
Forbes named him one of the 30 under 30 in Law and Policy, Grist selected him as one of the top 50 leaders in sustainability, and Klout ranked him as one of the top 5 global thought leaders on solar energy. He is the author of the acclaimed book, Taming the Sun.
Sivaram previously served as strategic advisor to the office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Reforming the Energy Vision. He was formerly a consultant at McKinsey, where he counselled Fortune 500 companies on adapting to the modern competitive landscape in energy. Prior to this role, he served as senior advisor for energy and water policy to the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, and oversaw the city’s Department of Water and Power.
Sivaram’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, the Journal of Applied Physics, the Journal of Physical Chemistry, Nature, Nature Energy, Nature Climate Change, Scientific American, and Issues in Science and Technology.
He is a non-resident fellow at the Columbia University Centre for Global Energy Policy, and a member of the advisory boards for the Stanford University Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy.
