Mary Nichols

Board of Directors | Board Member

• Company: Climate Counsel

Mary Nichols has devoted her life to protecting public health, reducing air pollution and fighting against climate change. As the longest-serving head of the California Air Resources Board, Nichols is credited with pioneering innovative regulatory and market-based programs that have improved public health and the environment across the country and around the world. Her tenure at CARB extended from 1979-1983, and 2007-2020 when her final term ended. Her career of service in public agencies, universities and nonprofit organizations has been recognized for a dedicated commitment to evidence-based problem solving that includes all stakeholders with a focus on providing benefits to all communities, particularly those most impacted by threats to public health. She currently is Distinguished Visiting Fellow in the Columbia Center on Global Energy Policy; Senior Visiting Fellow at the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability; and Professor of Law at UCLA Law School, and Vice Chair of the California-China Climate Institute at the University of California.