Former White House Advisor to Share Insights on Tackling Climate Change
Energy, law, and policy expert Ali Zaidi to deliver distinguished lecture at Northwestern
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We are eager to welcome Ali Zaidi, a key policy player and thinker, and hear his perspectives on the most promising ways forward in climate policy and action.”
Andrew V. Papachristos
IPR Director and sociologist
Ali Zaidi, a former national climate advisor in the Biden administration, will be the featured speaker for Northwestern University’s Distinguished Public Policy Lecture Series at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 30.
Zaidi is a leading expert in energy and climate policy, innovation, and investment. From 2022 to 2025, he served as assistant to the president and U.S. national climate advisor, heading the White House Climate Policy Office and serving as former President Joe Biden's top advisor on domestic climate policy.
He will speak on “Reimagining Climate Policy at the Intersection of Technology, Law, and Economics.”
Zaidi is the second distinguished public policy lecturer jointly hosted by the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and the Paula M. Trienens Institute for Sustainability and Energy. In April, the two institutes welcomed former Secretary of Energy and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, who spoke on “The Challenges in Getting to Net-Zero Global Greenhouse Emissions.” Watch the video of his lecture.
The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.
“The U.S. and the world are grappling with how best to address climate change in an ever-shifting geopolitical landscape,” said IPR Director Andrew V. Papachristos, the John G. Searle Professor of Sociology. “So, we are eager to welcome Ali Zaidi, a key policy player and thinker, and hear his perspectives on the most promising ways forward in climate policy and action.”
Zaidi played a central role in designing and implementing major legislation, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, which helped expand clean energy, reduce pollution, and support communities most affected by climate change.
“Connections between world-class research and public leadership are vital, often leading to the development and implementation of public policy that drives meaningful innovation and shapes the future,” said Trienens Institute Director Ted Sargent. “We look forward to hearing from Ali Zaidi about his experience and insight from the classroom to the White House and beyond.” Sargent is also the Lynn Hopton Davis and Greg Davis Professor of Chemistry and Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Zaidi also served in the Obama administration as head of the natural resources, energy, and science divisions of the Office of Management and Budget and deputy director at the Domestic Policy Council. In these roles, he shaped a wide range of policies, including the development of the president's Climate Action Plan and the Paris Climate Agreement. As New York’s chairman of climate policy and finance, he led the state's climate initiatives.
He has also advised nonprofits; counseled the private sector as an attorney focused on fund formation, mergers and acquisitions, and governance; and co-founded Lawyers for a Sustainable Economy, a Stanford Law School-coordinated initiative that equips sustainability-focused startups with pro bono legal services. Zaidi is currently a professor of practice, focused on innovation and applied science, at the University of Pennsylvania.
This event is co-sponsored by two of Northwestern’s leading research institutes within the University's Office for Research, IPR and the Trienens Institute, with support from the Abrams Climate Academy in the Kellogg School of Management.
For more information about the event, please email Nick Benson at ipr@northwestern.edu.
ABOUT THE IPR DISTINGUISHED PUBLIC POLICY LECTURE SERIES
As one of the country’s top interdisciplinary social science research institutes, the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) provides a home at Northwestern University for trailblazing policy research and thought-provoking discussion. Each year, it brings in some of the world’s greatest policy minds for its Distinguished Public Policy Lecture series. From its first lecture with then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala in 1994, IPR has continued to welcome a stellar lineup of world-class thinkers, top government officials, MacArthur Geniuses and Nobel Prize winners, and other policy luminaries. Their discussions inspire passionate dialogue and dare faculty, students, and the wider public to imagine how, for example, we can create an equitable economy, combat entrenched poverty, or grapple with the future of AI.
Published: September 18, 2025.
