Tom Steyer, investor, philanthropist, advanced energy advocate and Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus, has been selected to deliver the 2015 graduation address on June 13. Steyer will speak at the graduation ceremony as part of Stanford GSB’s alumni speaker program. The program was inaugurated in 2010 as a means to inspire graduates in their future careers.
In addition to being involved in the creation of the joint business and law school Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance, which examines issues of funding and public policy surrounding alternative energy, Steyer has been a member of the Stanford Board of Trustees since 2007 and served as a member of the Stanford GSB Advisory Council from 2003-08.
Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, JD/MBA ’86, also funded the TomKat Center for Sustainable Energy at Stanford’s Precourt Institute for Energy. The Center provides research grants for alternative energy innovations in wind, solar and advanced transmission technologies. Steyer was a founding partner at Farallon Capital Management before he retired from the private sector and is actively engaged in climate politics through his NextGen Climate political organization.
Steyer has also worked with former Secretary of State George Shultz to defeat Proposition 23 in 2010. In 2012, he served as co-chair with Shultz for Yes on Proposition 39, which closed a tax loophole for out-of-state corporations and created jobs in California.
He and his wife Kat Taylor also joined in the 2010 “Giving Pledge,” which is a promise to donate the majority of their wealth to charitable and nonprofit activities during their lifetimes. Other philanthropist involved with the “Giving Pledge” are Warren Buffett, Bill and Melinda Gates.