Kathleen Merrigan

Former Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan today was named the George Washington University’s first executive director of sustainability.

“As leader of the university’s sustainability initiatives, Merrigan will be responsible for launching and nurturing a Sustainability Institute that advances GW’s prominence as an academic leader in multidisciplinary sustainability education, research and outreach,” the university said in a news release. “She will also join the university’s academic faculty.”

Merrigan, who has been a consultant to Organic Valley, the co-op, since leaving USDA, told The Hagstrom Report that she will begin her duties on March 10 and that she will work directly with GW President Steven Knapp.

Before being appointed Agriculture deputy secretary, Merrigan served for nearly a decade as a faculty member and director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at Tufts University. She has also held positions as a senior analyst for the Henry A. Wallace Institute for Alternative Agriculture and a staff member for the Senate Agriculture Committee, where she wrote the law establishing national standards for organic food.

Merrigan earned a doctoral degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master of public affairs degree rom the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor of arts degree from Williams College.

At GW, Merrigan will oversee university-wide sustainability efforts with the goal of building programs focused on sustainable systems. She will work closely with GW’s Office of Sustainability to integrate academics with the university’s sustainability initiatives, including its ecosystems enhancement strategy, climate action plan and Gwater [water conservation] plan, the university said.

“Sustainability is one of GW’s core strategic initiatives, and an essential part of achieving the university’s goal of being the preeminent research university in the nation’s capital,” the university said. “The university has substantial academic expertise in a wide range of fields related to sustainability, including climate and energy, environmental engineering, public health, food culture and systems, and environmental law and policy.”

GW also has a citizen journalist project called Planet Forward dedicated to finding the best solutions to sustainability challenges around the globe, and that gives students and faculty the opportunity to tell their stories to the world.

• George Washington University Office of Sustainability
• — Ecosystems Enhancement Strategy
• — Climate Action Plan
• — GWater Plan
• — Planet Forward