Robert H. Socolow is a Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, where he teaches in both the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. He was the Director of the University’s Center for Energy and Environmental Studies from 1979 to 1997. His current research focuses on the characteristics of a global energy system that would be responsive to global and local environmental and security constraints. His specific areas of interest include the capture of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels and its storage in geological formations, nuclear power, energy efficiency in buildings, and the accelerated deployment of advanced technologies in developing countries. He was editor of Annual Review of Energy and the Environment, 1992- 2002.
Socolow earned a B.A. in 1959 and Ph.D. in theoretical high energy physics in l964 from Harvard University. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was awarded the 2003 Leo Szilard Lectureship Award by the American Physical Society “for leadership in establishing energy and environmental problems as legitimate research fields for physicists, and for demonstrating that these broadly defined problems can be addressed with the highest scientific standards.” In 2004, he was made a lifetime National Associate of the U.S. National Academies “in recognition of extraordinary service to the National Academies in its role as advisor to the Nation in matters of science, engineering, and health.” In 2005, he received the Axel Axelson Johnson Commemorative Lecture award from the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden. Translated from Swedish, the medal’s inscription reads: “For a remarkable effort in the application of engineering science research in mankind’s service.”