Dr. Steven E. Koonin is the Edward Teller Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Before joining Stanford in 2024, he was a professor at New York University, with appointments in the Stern School of Business, the Tandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Physics. He founded NYU’s Center for Urban Science and Progress, which focuses research and education on the acquisition, integration, and analysis of big data for big cities.
Prior to his time at NYU, Koonin served as undersecretary for science in the US Department of Energy under President Obama from 2009 to 2011, where his portfolio included the climate research program and energy technology strategy. Before joining the government, Koonin spent five years as chief scientist for BP, researching renewable energy options to move the company “beyond petroleum.”
For almost 30 years, Koonin was a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech. He also served for nine years as Caltech’s vice president and provost, facilitating the research of more than 300 scientists and engineers and catalyzing the development of the world’s largest optical telescope, as well as guiding research initiatives in computational science, bioengineering, and the biological sciences.
Koonin is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. His other memberships include the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and JASON, a group of scientists who solve technical problems for the US government; he served as JASON’s chair for six years. He chaired the National Academies’ Divisional Committee for Engineering and Physical Sciences from 2014 to 2019 and was a trustee of the Institute for Defense Analyses from 2014‒24. He is currently an independent governor of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and has served in similar roles for the Los Alamos, Sandia, Brookhaven, and Argonne national laboratories.
Koonin came to wide prominence following the 2021 publication of his book, Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, and Why It Matters. Koonin was attacked by professional colleagues due to his assertions that academics and journalists specializing in climate change reporting were spreading false claims about extreme weather. The reviews of his book by peers were often ad hominem, rather than a scientific discussion. He was castigated for straying from what was claimed to be ‘settled science.’
For his courage to think and publish against orthodoxy, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Prof. Steven E. Koonin, with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
