New Director for the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment

25 June 2018

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Professor Cameron Hepburn has been announced as the new Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. From October 2018 he will lead the School in its growing portfolio of research and education to shape business practices, government policy and stakeholder engagement on the environment. Professor Hepburn currently co-directs a number of Oxford Martin programmes including the Oxford Martin Net Zero Carbon Investment Initiative and the Oxford Martin Programme on the Post-Carbon Transition. He is also lead researcher on our programme on Integrating Renewable Energy.

He has played a key role in shaping the Smith School's success to date, serving as Deputy Director alongside Sir David King at the School's founding and lately as a Professor of Environmental Economics. Cameron is currently the Director of Economics of Sustainability within the Institute for New Economic Thinking at the Oxford Martin School, where he will continue to foster linkages and research.

On his appointment Cameron commented

"The visions of both the Smith School and the Martin School are very compatible. The Martin School is a world-leading centre of interdisciplinary research that addresses major global challenges. Many of these challenges relate to the environment, and enterprise plays a major role in causing and solving these challenges - which is the focus of the pioneering research, teaching and outreach of the Smith School. Both the Smith School and the Martin School have developed new models of interdisciplinary research that other universities have since looked to emulate. I am looking forward to continuing the partnership on environmental issues in my new role as Director of the Smith School."

The Smith School has grown from strength to strength over the past decade since it was founded thanks to the generosity of Sir Martin and Lady Smith with a remit to bring public and private enterprises into conversations around climate change and the environment. It hosts an impressive research portfolio spanning a £15 million global water security programme; acting as an advisor to business on the growing income protection gap problem facing the UK; and providing a substantial voice in the sustainable finance world.

Commenting on the announcement, Sir Martin Smith said: "We have been grateful to Cameron's commitment to the Smith School since its very earliest days. We have watched him grow into an influential global spokesperson on energy and climate policy, offering key messages to guide both the public sector and the corporate world as they address the profound issues surrounding environmental change. We look forward with confidence to the prospect of the SSEE building on its achievements to date and moving into a new and exciting phase under his Directorship."