Graciela Chichilnisky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Graciela Chichilnisky
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| Born | March 27, 1946 |
| Citizenship | United States |
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| Children | 2, including E.J. |
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Graciela Chichilnisky (born March 27, 1946) is an important Argentine-American economist. She is well-known for her work in economics and on climate change. She teaches economics and statistics at Columbia University. She is also a visiting professor at Stanford University. Her economic research often uses math and topology. She also studies international and development economics. Graciela Chichilnisky also helped start a company called Global Thermostat. This company works on direct-air capture, which means removing carbon dioxide directly from the air. She was the CEO of Global Thermostat from 2010 until 2022.
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Graciela Chichilnisky's Early Life and Education
Graciela Chichilnisky was born around March 27, 1946, in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her parents were immigrants from Russia. Her father was a professor of neurology at the University of Buenos Aires.
She went to high school at the Instituto National de Lenguas Vivas. She also took science classes at a local university. After a military takeover in Argentina, the University of Buenos Aires closed. A professor named Warren Ambrose moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He brought six students with him, including Graciela. At this time, Graciela was raising her son, E.J. Chichilnisky, as a single mother.
Graciela Chichilnisky did not have a regular college degree. However, she was accepted into MIT's math doctoral program. She received a scholarship from the Ford Foundation. She studied at MIT from 1967 to 1968. Then, she moved to the University of California, Berkeley. In 1970, she earned a Master of Arts degree. The next year, she received her first Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in mathematics. Her advisor for this degree was Jerrold Marsden.
In 1976, she earned another Ph.D. from Berkeley, this time in economics. Her advisor for her economics Ph.D. was Gerard Debreu, who later won a Nobel Prize. Some people mistakenly think she got a degree from MIT, but all her degrees are from Berkeley. Graciela and her fellow professor, Geoffrey Heal, had a daughter named Natasha in 1987. Sadly, Natasha passed away in 2014 while studying at Yale University.
Since about 1991 or 1992, Graciela Chichilnisky has been an American citizen. In 2017, the Carnegie Corporation of New York honored her as one of 38 "Great Immigrants." This award celebrates naturalized citizens who have made important contributions. She has two children and lives in New York City. She speaks English, Spanish, and French.
Graciela Chichilnisky's Career and Contributions
After working as a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard University, Graciela Chichilnisky joined Columbia University in 1977. She became an associate professor of economics. Within two years, she earned tenure and became a full professor. From 1995 to 2008, she was a UNESCO Professor of Mathematics and Economics. This was part of the UNESCO Chairs program. She also held a professor position at the University of Essex from 1980 to 1981. She has also been a visiting professor at other universities, including Stanford University since 2015.
Global Thermostat and Climate Innovation
In 2010, Chichilnisky helped create Global Thermostat. She started the company with Peter Eisenberger and Ben Bronfman. Global Thermostat focuses on direct-air capture, which means taking carbon dioxide out of the air. She was the CEO of the company. In 2015, a business magazine named her CEO of the Year in Sustainability. In 2022, she stepped down as CEO due to changes in the company. As of 2023, Chichilnisky is the CEO of GT Climate Innovation.
Important Research and Ideas
Graciela Chichilnisky has written over 17 books and more than 330 scientific papers. She is most famous for helping design the carbon market. This system was part of the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement since 2005. The carbon market helps countries trade carbon credits to reduce pollution. She was also a lead author for the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. This report helped win the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize that year.
In her work on international trade, she showed how sometimes giving aid to a country could actually make the receiving country worse off. She also showed how strategies for developing countries to grow by selling goods to other countries could sometimes lead to unexpected poor results. This can happen because richer countries might have technologies that grow faster.
In the study of how societies make decisions, called social choice theory, Chichilnisky created a new way to understand group choices. She used advanced math called algebraic topology. Her ideas helped create a new area of study called continuous social choice. During the 1980s and 1990s, she often worked with economist Geoffrey M. Heal.
You can find a list of her published works on her CV. This is linked from her profile on the Columbia Economics website. Other experts have also written articles discussing her work.
Challenges and Advocacy
Graciela Chichilnisky has faced some challenges in her career. In the 1990s, she had disagreements with other professors. She also had legal cases with Columbia University. In 1995, one case was settled, where she claimed she was paid less than male colleagues. She filed another case in 2000, saying that the university continued to treat her unfairly. Columbia University said she was difficult to work with. Chichilnisky believes that if she were male, these traits would not be seen as a problem.
See also
In Spanish: Graciela Chichilnisky para niños
