FOR INFORMATION:
Thomas E. Lovejoy or Anne Hummer 
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   April 29, 2002  

WORLD BANK ADVISOR THOMAS E. LOVEJOY NAMED PRESIDENT OF THE HEINZ CENTER

Washington, D.C.:  The Board of Trustees of The H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment announced that the transition in the leadership of The Heinz Center takes place on April 29. The Center’s first president, William J. Merrell, Jr., is leaving the Center after seven years in order to pursue his interest in ocean research, and the Center’s Board of Trustees has appointed Thomas E. Lovejoy to serve as interim president. Dr. Lovejoy is currently the World Bank’s Chief Biodiversity Advisor and Lead Specialist for Environment for Latin America and the Caribbean and Senior Advisor to the President of the United Nations Foundation. 

The Heinz Center, established in 1995 in memory of Senator John Heinz, is a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution dedicated to improving the scientific and economic basis for environmental policy and to developing innovative solutions to environmental problems. 

“Bill Merrell has played a key role in successfully launching The Heinz Center and in realizing its vision of fostering collaboration among industry, environmental organizations, government, and academia to identify sound policies for addressing the critical environmental issues of our time,” said G. William Miller, chairman of the Heinz Center’s Board of Trustees.

Mr. Miller noted that the appointment of Dr. Lovejoy would ensure continuity of the Center’s activities. “Tom Lovejoy’s long experience with environmental science and policy ideally suits him to lead The Heinz Center in carrying out its important mission,” he said. “Under Tom’s leadership the Center will maintain its commitment to the selected program areas of Sustainable Oceans, Coasts, and Waterways; Environmental Reporting; and Global Change.”

In addition to serving the World Bank and the United Nations Foundation, Dr. Lovejoy has been Chief Scientist and Counselor at the Smithsonian Institution, Science Advisor to the Secretary of the Interior, and Executive Vice President of the World Wildlife Fund–U.S. He conceived the idea for the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems project (a joint project between the Smithsonian and Brazil's INPA), originated the concept of debt-for-nature swaps, and is the founder of the public television series Nature. Last year he was awarded the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement. Dr. Lovejoy served on science and environmental councils or committees under the Reagan, Bush, and Clinton administrations. He received his B.S. and Ph.D. (biology) from Yale University. 

The Heinz Center will conduct a nationwide search for a permanent president; the search will be led by Center trustee Jared Cohon, president of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.