Paul R. Portney

Paul R. Portney retired in May of 2014 from the University of Arizona, where for nine years he was Professor of Economics. From 2005 to 2011, he was Dean of the university’s Eller College of Management.

From 1972 to 2005, Dr. Portney worked with Resources for the Future (RFF), an independent and non-partisan think tank in Washington, D.C. specializing in energy and environmental research. He was RFF’s Vice President between 1989 to 1995, and President and CEO from 1995 to 2005. He has held visiting teaching positions at the University of California at Berkeley (1977 to 1979) and Princeton University (1992 to 1994); in 1979 to 1980, he was the Chief Economist for the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Dr. Portney serves on the board of directors for Empire District Electric, a publicly traded electric and gas utility headquartered in Missouri. In addition, he is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the Institute for Energy Efficiency at the University of California at Santa Barbara, serves on the board of trustees of the Johnson Foundation in Racine, WI, and is a member of the External Advisory Board for the Graham Institute for Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He has also served as Chair of the National Research Council Committee on the Effectiveness and Impact of Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards.

Dr. Portney is the author or co-author of 10 books, including Public Policies for Environmental Protection, and was named one of the 100 most-cited researchers in economics and business.

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