Ralph Izzo believes that our society is steering a very unsustainable course when it comes to energy — and he speaks with authority. An engineer and researcher, Izzo is currently the top executive at Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG). In the first Technology and Society Forum presentation for spring 2009, he will explore how the impacts of climate change and an uncertain economy make it imperative to redefine our complex relationship with energy. Revolutionizing the nation’s energy infrastructure can be the preeminent publicworks project of our time, with cities being prime locations for pioneering advances in sustainability and the creation of a thriving green economy.

Izzo has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering and a PhD in applied physics from Columbia University. His career began as a research scientist at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory. He has published or presented more than 35 papers on magnetohydrodynamic modeling.

A leader in the public-policy arena as well as the utility industry, Izzo’s experience includes service as an American Physical Society Congressional Science Fellow, in the office of U.S. Senator Bill Bradley. He also served as a senior policy advisor to New Jersey Governor Thomas H. Kean, specializing in energy, science and technology.

Chairman of the board for the Center for Energy Workforce Development, Izzo serves on the boards of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, the American Gas association, the New Jersey Utilities Association, the Edison Electric Institute and the Nuclear Energy Institute. In addition, he is a member of the Council on Competitiveness – Energy Security; Innovation and Sustainability Initiative Steering Committee; and the Business Roundtable.

Cosponsored by the NJIT Technology and Society Forum Committee, Albert Dorman Honors College and Sigma Xi.

For More Information: Contact Jay Kappraff, kappraff@adm.njit.edu or 973-596-3490

NJIT welcomes attendees from Essex County College, RutgersNewark, and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Visit the NJIT Technology and Society Forum on the Web at http://tsf.njit.edu.