Press Release
from Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School

Fran Ulmer Named Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs has named Fran Ulmer a Senior Fellow in residence for the 2019-2020 academic year. Ulmer, Chair of the U.S. government’s Arctic Research Commission and former Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, will work with the Center’s Arctic Initiative, a joint effort of the Center’s programs on Environment and Natural Resources and Science, Technology, and Public Policy. She will focus on a range of Arctic challenges associated with rapid climate change in this critical region, including management of Arctic ocean resources and pollution, tensions between conservation and development in the Arctic, and international collaboration on Arctic science and governance.

Ulmer has been a local, national, and global leader on Arctic issues for over forty years. “There is probably no single individual who has done more to protect and improve the fragile ecosystem of the state of Alaska, while enhancing the economic and social fabric of the region,” said Henry Lee, Director of the Belfer Center’s Environment and Natural Resources Program and Co-Director of the Arctic Initiative.

Ulmer earned a bachelor's degree with a double major in economics and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a juris doctor cum laude from the University of Wisconsin Law School. In addition to her service for eight years as Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor, her professional career has included stints as Chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage, Mayor of Juneau, Director of Policy Development for the State of Alaska, Minority Leader of the Alaska House of Representatives, Special Advisor on Arctic Science and Policy to Secretary of State John Kerry, Member of the U.S. National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Member of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission, and Visiting Professor at Stanford University.

“Fran Ulmer’s knowledge of the intersecting landscapes of Arctic science and Arctic governance is unsurpassed,” said John Holdren, Director of the Belfer Center’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program and Co-Director of the Arctic Initiative. “She has already made exceptional contributions as a non-resident Fellow at the Initiative, and her assuming now the role of Senior Fellow presages an even larger role in building this extraordinary effort on policy innovation for a rapidly changing Arctic.”

“Now more than ever, the rapid rate of change in the Arctic region demands our attention,” said Ulmer. “Research, analysis, and focused discussions will help improve our shared understanding of the future and how to prepare for it.”

The Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative strives to increase understanding and improve policies to respond to the changing Arctic region by initiating new research, convening policymakers, scientists, and politicians, and developing a new generation of leaders in the field.

The Arctic Initiative’s Senior Fellows Program attracts advanced scholars and practitioners to the Belfer Center to actively engage with students, faculty, and the broader community to increase understanding about complex issues at the intersection of science and policy.