Steven E. Koonin | |
|---|---|
 Koonin in 2009 | |
| Director of theCenter for Urban Science and Progress,New York University | |
| In office April 2012 – ? | |
| 2nd Under Secretary for Science | |
| In office May 2009 – November 2011 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | Raymond L. Orbach |
| 7th Provost ofCaltech | |
| In office February 1995 – March 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Paul C. Jennings |
| Succeeded by | Edward Stolper (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1951-12-12)December 12, 1951 (age 73) Brooklyn, New York |
| Spouse | Laurie Koonin |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | B.S.,California Institute of Technology Ph.D.,Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | theoretical physics, alternative energy sources, climate science |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Hydrodynamic approximations to time-dependent Hartree-Fock (1975) |
| Doctoral advisor | Arthur Kerman |
| Notable students | Post-docs: |
Steven Elliot Koonin (born December 12, 1951)[1] is an Americantheoretical physicist,environmental scientist, and former director of theCenter for Urban Science and Progress atNew York University. He is also a professor in the Department of Civil and Urban Engineering at NYU'sTandon School of Engineering.[2] From 2004 to 2009, Koonin was employed byBP as the oil and gas company’s Chief Scientist.[3] From 2009 to 2011, he wasUnder Secretary for Science, Department of Energy, in theObama administration. He later publishedUnsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters, for which he was widely condemned for promotingclimate denial and labeled a climate change skeptic.[4][5][6] In 2024, he became the Edward Teller Fellow atStanford University'sHoover Institution.[7] He was a coauthor of the 2025U.S. Department of Energy report,A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate that asserted that the danger from greenhouse gas emissions was exaggerated.[8][9]
Born inBrooklyn, New York City, Koonin graduated fromStuyvesant High School at the age of 16, received hisBachelor of Science from theCalifornia Institute of Technology and hisPh.D. from theMassachusetts Institute of Technology under the supervision ofArthur Kerman in theMIT Center for Theoretical Physics.[10][11][12] In 1975, Koonin joined the faculty of the California Institute of Technology as an assistant professor oftheoretical physics becoming one of their youngest ever faculty, and served as the institute'sprovost from 1995 to 2004.[13][14] During his tenure as provost, he was involved in projects related toscientific computing,bioengineering, andbiology.[15][16] He oversaw institutional support for large-scale research projects, including the development of theThirty-Meter Telescope project.[17][18][15]
In 2004, Koonin joinedBP as their chief scientist, where he was responsible for guiding the company's long-range technology strategy, particularly in alternative andrenewable energy sources.[19] He was tapped for the position ofUnder Secretary for Science at theUnited States Department of Energy bySteven Chu, Obama's Secretary of Energy,[20] and served from May 19, 2009, to November 18, 2011.[21][22] At the Department of Energy, Koonin was involved in the climate research program and energy technology policy. He was the lead author of the agency's 2011 Strategic Plan and the first Quadrennial Technology review.[23][24] Koonin left in November 2011 for a position at theInstitute for Defense Analyses.[25] In 2012, he was appointed the founding director ofNYU'sCenter for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP),[26] an applied research center which uses data to studyurban challenges.[27]
At NYU, Koonin was appointed to theStern School of Business, theTandon School of Engineering, and the Department of Physics.[16] He has served on numerous advisory bodies for theNational Science Foundation, theDepartment of Defense, and theDepartment of Energy and its various national laboratories, such as theJASON defense advisory group, which he has chaired.[28] From 2014 to 2019, he chaired the National Academies' Diversional Committee for Engineering and Physical Sciences.[29] From 2014 to 2024, he was a trustee of theInstitute for Defense Analyses.[16] Koonin's research interests have included theoretical nuclear,many-body, andcomputational physics,nuclear astrophysics, and globalenvironmental science.[30] He is a fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences[31] and a member of theNational Academy of Sciences.[16]
He was awarded the prestigious Barry Prize for Distinguished Intellectual Achievement by the American Academy of Sciences and Letters in 2023.[32]
Koonin played a major role in the 1989 national controversy aroundcold fusion sparked by the research ofMartin Fleischmann andStanley Pons. After the explosive announcement of their research at theUniversity of Utah, excitement for the potential of fusion as an energy source quickly gave way to skepticism among the scientific community as scientists across the world raced to replicate the Utah experiment.[33] Steven Koonin and hisCaltech colleagues,Nathan Lewis and Charles Barnes (who became known as the "Caltech Three") headed up a research group to investigate cold fusion.[34]
The scientific skepticism around cold fusion came to a head at the meeting of theAmerican Physical Society inBaltimore later in 1989.[35] At the conference, Steven Koonin, and Nathan Lewis gave devastating presentations based on the work of the Caltech cold fusion research group.[34] During his presentation, Koonin called the Utah publication of the Utah research a result of "the incompetence and delusion of Pons and Fleischmann," which was met with a standing ovation.[36] These presentations of the Caltech group revealed serious deficiencies in cold fusion research and ultimately led to mainstream science's rejection of cold fusion.[34]
Koonin became publicly involved in the policy debate about climate change starting with aWall Street Journal opinion piece in 2017, in which he floated the idea of ared team/blue team exercise for climate science. In 2018, theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the leadership ofScott Pruitt proposed a public debate on climate change to refute the 2017Climate Science Special Report. According to a draft press release edited by Koonin and William Happer, Princeton physics professor and director of theCO2 Coalition, they planned "red team"/blue team exercises to challenge thescientific consensus on climate. The draft was never released, and the plans were not carried out.[37][38][39]
In 2019, theTrump Administration proposed to create a "Presidential Committee on Climate Security" at the National Security Council that would conduct an "adversarial" review of the scientific consensus on climate change. Koonin was actively involved in recruiting others to be part of this review. The committee was scrapped in favor of an initiative not "subject to the same level of public disclosure as a formal advisory committee".[39][40][41]
Koonin is a coauthor of the July 23, 2025,U.S. Department of Energy report,A Critical Review of Impacts of Greenhouse Gas Emissions on the U.S. Climate that asserted that the danger from greenhouse gas emissions was exaggerated.[8] In an interview withThe Free Press, Koonin claimed that "Ninety-five percent of the report is sourced from" theUnited NationsIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.[8][42]The report has been criticized for cherry-picking and for highlighting uncertainties in order to downplay the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, numerous scientists whose work was cited by the report indicated that their work had been mischaracterized.[43]
Koonin wrote a 2000-word essay, "Climate Science Is Not Settled," that was published in an issue ofThe Wall Street Journal.[44][45] The main points of the article were that:
In an article inSlate,[46] climate physicistRaymond Pierrehumbert criticized Koonin's essay as "a litany of discredited arguments" with "nuggets of truth ... buried beneath a rubble of false or misleading claims from the standard climate skeptics' canon."
In 2021, Koonin published the bookUnsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters.[47] Critics accused him ofcherry picking data, muddying the waters surrounding thescience of climate change, and having no experience inclimate science, all points he rebukes in the opening of his book.[48]
In a review inScientific American, economistGary Yohe wrote that Koonin "falsely suggest[s] that we don't understand the risks well enough to take action":
The science is stronger than ever around findings that speak to the likelihood and consequences of climate impacts, and has been growing stronger for decades. In the early days of research, the uncertainty was wide; but with each subsequent step that uncertainty has narrowed or become better understood. This is how science works, and in the case of climate, the early indications detected and attributed in the 1980s and 1990s, have come true, over and over again and sooner than anticipated...[Decision makers] are using the best and most honest science to inform prospective investments in abatement (reducing greenhouse gas emissions to diminish the estimated likelihoods of dangerous climate change impacts) and adaptation (reducing vulnerabilities to diminish their current and projected consequences).[47]
PhysicistMark Boslough, a former student of Koonin, posted a critical review atYale Climate Connections. He stated that "Koonin makes use of an old strawman concocted by opponents of climate science in the 1990s to create an illusion of arrogant scientists, biased media, and lying politicians – making them easier to attack."[49]
Nonprofit organizationInside Climate News reported that climate scientists call Koonin's conclusions "fatally out of date ... and based on the 2013 physical science report of theIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)."[20]
Mark P. Mills, a senior fellow at theManhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, and faculty fellow atNorthwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science,[50] lauded the book inThe Wall Street Journal as "rebut[ing] much of the dominant political narrative".[51] Twelve scientists analyzed Mills's arguments and said that he merely repeated Koonin's incorrect and misleading claims.[52] Koonin responded with a post onMedium answering these critics.[53]
On August 21, 2023, aninterview with Koonin was released via the Stanford University Hoover Institution video series, Uncommon Knowledge with Peter Robinson.
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