John Cronin
Director, Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries
Senior Fellow for Environmental Affairs, Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, Pace University
For 35 years, John Cronin has dedicated his career to public service and the environment. For his accomplishments, Time magazine named him a "Hero for the Planet" and People magazine described him as "equal parts detective, scientist and public advocate."
Cronin has worked as an activist, legislative and congressional aide, commercial fisherman, professor, author and filmmaker. He is known internationally for his Hudson River work, for which the Wall Street Journal praised him as "a unique presence on America's major waterways." He served as Hudson Riverkeeper from 1983 - 2000, a position that has inspired a legacy of more than 160 Waterkeeper programs on six continents.
As director of Beacon Institute, he has adopted technological innovation as the research center's central mission. Its River and Estuary Observatory Network (REON), created in collaboration with IBM, will use the Hudson as a test site for a network of sensors and robotics that will provide real-time data to researchers, policy makers and educators and will be emulated on rivers and estuaries worldwide.
As Senior Fellow in Environmental Affairs at the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies, a Pace University Center for Excellence, he is heading the formation of a science, technology and policy center, and creating a program of undergraduate and graduate studies in applied knowledge for the next generation of environmental leaders.
Cronin lectures nationally on our environmental future, with a special focus on innovation and policy. "If the 20th century was the era of environmental brawn, the 21st century is the era of environmental brains," he tells his audiences. "By harnessing the talent, intellect, and passion that reside in every segment of American society, we can harmonize forever the human and natural worlds. This is our greatest challenge in the 21st century."
Cronin is the founder of the Environmental Consortium of Hudson Valley Colleges and Universities. He co-authored, with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., The Riverkeepers, published by Scribner with an introduction by Vice-President Al Gore. He has written numerous articles, including for the Op Ed page of The New York Times, and is a regular columnist for InsideOut, a bimonthly magazine. He wrote and co-produced the film "The Last Rivermen," named an outstanding documentary by the Motion Picture Academy Foundation.
In addition to Time magazine Hero for the Planet, Cronin's many awards and honors include an Honorary Juris Doctor from Pace University School of Law, the William E. Ricker Award from the American Fisheries Society, the Thomas Berry Environmental Award, the Governor's Parks and Open Space Award, and the Norman Durer award from Oklahoma State University. He has been the subject of two books, and extensive major media print and broadcast news stories.
The Knight-Ridder newspapers called John Cronin a "hero in one of the great success stories of the modern environmental movement."
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