News
Portland State University announced Thursday that Robert Costanza will join the faculty to direct its Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices.
Costanza is currently the Gund Professor of Ecological Economics and director of the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont. He is internationally acclaimed for his cross-discipline work linking ecology and economics to sustainability.
Costanza's selection follows a national search that lasted about a year.
"We are very pleased that Bob Costanza has agreed to join us and provide leadership to our instructional, research and engagement activities in sustainability," said Roy Koch, Portland State University provost, in a press release. "His commitments to sustainability as an integrated concept crossing many disciplines and to engaged teaching and research makes him a great fit for this institution."
Costanza will arrive in the fall to lead the Center for Sustainable Processes and Practices, which was formed in 2006 as the sustainability hub for the university. The center administers the 10-year, $25 million challenge grant for sustainability made by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation to PSU in September 2008.
Prior to moving to Vermont in August 2002, Costanza was director of the University of Maryland Institute for Ecological Economics. Costanza received his doctorate from the University of Florida in 1979. He's the founder and editor-in-chief of the journal "Solutions."
In a statement issued about his new role, Costanza said: "We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity faces significant challenges and opportunities to redirect our course toward a sustainable and desirable future. Universities must play a critical role in this transformation."
