Anthony Cortese to Speak at Southwestern College

One of the nation’s top advocates for sustainable lifestyles is coming to Southwestern College. Anthony Cortese will give a public lecture Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 7 p.m., in Mossman 101.

Cortese is the co-director of the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment. Southwestern College President Dick Merriman was an early signer of this compact, and the college now is engaging in progressively green practices.

Academic dean Andy Sheppard says that Cortese will meet with several students, faculty, and administrators around campus and challenge them to think about various ways the college can “go green.” “I think the thing that is great about having Dr. Cortese here is that he is not coming to give us a top 10 list of things to do in order to reduce our carbon foot-print,” Sheppard says. “Rather, his visit will be spent on helping us to make a culture change in the way we consume our resources.”

Cortese was formerly the commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. He was the first dean of environmental programs at Tufts University and spear-headed the award-winning Tufts Environmental Literacy Institute in 1989 which helped integrate environmental and sustainability perspectives in over 175 courses and the internationally acclaimed Talloires Declaration of University Leaders for a Sustainable Future in 1990.

Cortese is a founding and current member of the board of directors of The Natural Step US, and a founding member of the Environmental Business Council of New England. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has been a consultant to UNEP, a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board and the President's Council on Sustainable Development's Education Task Force. He has been actively engaged climate change and other large system environmental challenges for 25 years. He is also a founding member of the U.S. Board of Councilors for the China – U.S. Center for Sustainable Development.

Cortese has B.S. and M.S. degrees from Tufts University in civil and environmental engineering and a Doctor of Science in Environmental Health from the Harvard School of Public Health.

The public is invited to attend the Oct. 1 lecture by Cortese. There is no admission charge. For more information about Cortese’s visit to Southwestern College, contact Jason Speegle, Green Team director, at (620) 229-6311.