Jim Leape, an internationally recognized authority on sustainability and conservation, has been appointed as the inaugural recipient of the William and Eva Price Senior Fellowship, which will support Leape's research and his efforts to connect innovative Stanford research to decision-makers. 

"Bill and Eva Price have been tremendous supporters and advisers, and their dedication of permanent support for this fellowship is yet another example of their deep commitment to sustainability," said Chris Field, Perry L. McCarty Director of the Stanford Woods Institute. "We are beyond fortunate to be able to offer this prestigious role to a conservation pioneer like Jim Leape. This appointment marks a major milestone in our work to develop environmental knowledge and solutions by working across sectors with those in unique positions to advance sustainability. Jim's leadership and deep bench of technical knowledge, policy expertise, contacts and insights will be invaluable to the environmental research community here at Stanford." 

Leape, who was recently appointed co-director of Stanford's Center for Ocean Solutions, has 30 years of conservation experience spanning a broad range of conservation interests on every continent. From 2005 to 2014, he served as Director General of WWF International and leader of the global WWF Network, which is one of the world's largest conservation organizations, active in more than 100 countries. In that capacity, he worked with government, business and civil society leaders on wide range of issues including climate change, forest protection, marine conservation, water resources management, and sustainability in global commodity markets. Previously, he directed the conservation and science initiatives of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, a leading philanthropy in the U.S. Jim has also worked as executive vice president of WWF-US in Washington, D.C.; as a lawyer for the United Nations Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya; as a law professor; and a litigator for the National Audubon Society and for the U.S. Department of Justice. Leape earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard and also has co-authored a leading text on American environmental law.

Since 2014, Leape has served as a consulting professor at the Stanford Woods Institute and the Cox Consulting Professor in the School of Earth, Energy and Environmental Sciences at the Stanford Woods Institute. The intersection of business and the environment have been central to his study of how private sector leadership can help drive sustainability into global markets, with particular emphasis on deforestation, sustainable supply chains and and the growing role of China in global markets.

Leape worked with CEOs of some of the world's largest companies, including Unilever, Coca Cola, Ikea, HSBC, SAB Miller and Lafarge. He has worked with heads of state, ministers, and business leaders in emerging economies such as China, Brazil, Indonesia and India, and many other countries. He has helped build broad coalitions of companies, governments, and NGOs to address issues such as ocean protection, overfishing, species protection, sustainable supply chains, and climate change.

As part of his Woods appointment, Leape has been added to the ranks of those with principal investigator status, who may lead research initiatives at Stanford. His new role will expand the scope of his scholarship as he continues to engage business leaders, policymakers and philanthropists from the extensive networks he has built during the past 30 years. 

"I feel very fortunate to be joining the extraordinary faculty that Stanford has assembled in the Woods Institute, who bring such deep insights to the challenge of sustainability and are creating the kinds of innovations that will enable us all to prosper within the limits of our one planet. I am grateful to the Prices for their vision and generosity, which had made this position possible and which is so vital, in particular, to Stanford's work to sustain the oceans."