David G. Victor Email and Phone Number

At GPS I develop and teach courses on the politics of the policy making process as well as advanced courses on the politics of energy and environmental policy and fundamentals of energy systems (joint with Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering). I designed the school’s Master in Public Policy (MPP), which is rapidly growing to become the largest degree program, and co-lead the school’s specialization on environmental policy. I also co-designed and created courses that link GPS (where most teaching is in the social sciences) with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography with the Jacobs School of Engineering. Also co-lead the capstone program on energy and environmental policy, which links advanced students with real world clients for strategic analysis and consulting experience—the culmination of their two-year careers at GPS. Since 2018 holder of the Center for Global Transformation endowed chair in innovation and public policy.

Joint effort by UCSD’s policy school (GPS) and the School of Engineering to catalyze more research and teaching related to radical reductions in emissions of warming gases “in the real world”—that is, where political and economic constraints matter. Lead a seminar series; fund creation of new courses; and spearhead major integrated research initiatives—on the future of natural gas, on the prospects for advanced nuclear plants, on the politics of carbon capture & storage, decentralization of the grid, and the prospects for integrating massive renewables into the grid.

ILAR examined the ways that international regulatory institutions affect behavior—looking across a wide array of issue areas from energy and environment to human rights, trade, and security. Most of ILAR’s research concentrated in two areas—on the strategies that firms use to influence international legal agreements and on experimental research on the design and implementation of international agreements

The Carbon Removal Initiative (CRI) is a new research enterprise at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO), based in Climate, Atmospheric Science and Physical Oceanography. It will analyze the potentials for slowing and stopping climate change through, in part, massive deployment of atmospheric carbon removal technologies. The CRI will fund and perform research on particular carbon removal options but focus on systems analysis on the modes and speed at which carbon removal systems might scale and their overall impact on on carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.

At the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, I lead efforts to understand thepolicy and geophysical responses to rapid climate change, including essential roles for emergency deployment of carbon removal technologies.

Co-created a Brookings-wide initiative that integrates insights from across all the major arms of Brookings, anchored in Foreign Policy. Create new content on how shifting geopolitics and technology affect the ability of countries to manage emissions of warming gases and lead public and private events on the same. Founded and led the Brookings initiative on the financial markets andclimate change.

Taught courses in regulated industries, energy and environmental law as well as field seminars and supervised JD research projects.

Head of CFR’s Science and Technology program; co-leader (with Benn Steil) of the CFR study on technological innovation and economic growth; Director of CFR’s task force on energy security (co-chaired by James Schlesinger and John Deutch) and senior adviser to the task force on climate change (cochaired by George Pataki and Tom Vilsack). Led numerous study groups, such as on improving management of the $50b U.S. strategic petroleum reserve and on international regulation of geoengineering.

Responsible for raising more than $15m and managing the Program’s $2.3m per year annual budget. Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli International Studies. Led PESD research on a wide range of issues in energy markets, with a special focus on the emerging markets of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa. Studies examined global climate change policy after the Kyoto Protocol; the emerging global markets for coal and natural gas; energy services for the world’s poor; and the performance of state-controlled oil companies.