Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker is dean of the Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studied chemistry and physics in Hamburg and graduated from the University of Freiburg in 1968. During the 1970's he was president of the University in Kassel before taking up the post of Director of the UNO-Centre for science and technology in New York. From 1984-91 he was the Director of the Institute for European environment politics in Bonn, Paris and London and from 1991-2000 he was the president of the Institute for climate, environment and energy in Wuppertal, Germany. From 1998-2005 he was a member of the German Parliament. He is the author of many books and publications and was honoured with the Takeda award in 2001. He is a member of the Club of Rome.