Interim Vice President for Climate
Biography
Richard Lester is interim vice president for climate, Japan Steel Industry Professor, and professor of nuclear science and engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
From 2015 through August 2024 Lester served as MIT’s inaugural vice provost (formerly associate provost) for international activities, responsible for providing intellectual leadership, guidance, and oversight of the Institute’s international policies and engagements. In that role, he led the development of the Institute’s first global strategy; championed new MIT research and educational activities, especially in Africa and Asia; worked to enhance the international educational experiences available to MIT students; and served as president of MIT International.
Lester also served as the architect of MIT’s global geopolitical risk management processes and chaired the Institute’s Senior Risk Group, helping to introduce critical assessments and guidance for faculty, research staff, and administrators to identify and manage risk and ensure successful collaborations with international parties.
As convenor and co-chair of the MIT China Strategy Group, Richard crafted an influential 2022 report to develop principles and recommendations for how MIT should approach its academic interactions and collaborations with China. The report outlines approaches that uphold MIT’s core values and advance knowledge for the benefit of the nation and the world, without endangering human rights or damaging US interests in security or the economy.
Lester has also been active in advancing MIT’s efforts on climate research and innovation. Most recently, he served as the architect of the Climate Project at MIT and he previously spearheaded MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges.
From 2009 to 2015, Lester headed MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering, leading the department successfully through a period of rapid rebuilding and strategic renewal. He is also the founder and faculty chair of the MIT Industrial Performance Center.
Lester’s research focuses on innovation, productivity, and industrial strategy, and under his leadership the MIT Industrial Performance Center conducted multiple major studies of local, regional and national innovation and industry performance
Lester is also well known for his teaching and research on energy and climate policy and nuclear technology innovation, management, and control. He has been a longtime advocate of advanced nuclear reactor and fuel cycle technologies to improve the safety and economic performance of nuclear power, and his studies in the field of nuclear waste management helped provide the foundation for new institutional and technological strategies to deal with this long-standing problem.
Lester’s most recent book, Unlocking Energy Innovation: How America Can Build a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Energy System, written with David Hart, outlined a strategy for mobilizing America’s innovation resources in support of a decades-long transition to an affordable and reliable low-carbon global energy system. Lester is also the author or co-author of seven other books, including The Productive Edge: A New Strategy for Economic Growth; Innovation —The Missing Dimension (with Michael Piore); Making Technology Work: Applications in Energy and the Environment (with John Deutch); Made in America: Regaining the Productive Edge (with Michael Dertouzos and Robert Solow);, and Radioactive Waste: Management and Regulation (with Mason Willrich.)
Lester obtained his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from Imperial College and earned his PhD in nuclear engineering from MIT. He has been a member of the MIT faculty since 1979. He served as chair of the National Academies’ Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy, and more recently served as founding chair of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency’s Global Nuclear Forum. He has been an advisor to governments, corporations, foundations, and nonprofit groups.