HEI Vice President Robert O'Keefe announces retirement

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Dear Friends, 

I write today to share news of my retirement from HEI.

Those of you who have an ear to the ground know that due to some major orthopedic surgery I stepped back from regular work at HEI last year to recover and advise as needed. As you will read below, I am just fine and not surprisingly given its outstanding leadership, so is HEI, making this an excellent time to share my news more broadly.

It has been a privilege to help lead the growth and development of such a respected and influential institute for nearly 30 years. It has also been a privilege to work with all of you… sponsors, committee members, scientists, NGOs, colleagues, and the many talented professionals who came before you to provide and use science to help make the world a bit of a better place.

Among many joys, working at HEI has meant it was always easy to get out of bed in the morning. Hardly a day would pass when there wasn’t an engaging issue on the table, a challenge to meet, or an opportunity to work with some of the planet’s smartest and most thoughtful leaders on important questions of science to inform policy.
Since its founding in 1980, HEI has helped advance scientific knowledge and inform key policy decisions in the U.S. and abroad, contributing to clean air and better health. During this time, decision makers, scientists, and advocates welcomed the open and thoughtful dialogue characteristic of HEI’s forums, the uncanny ability of the Institute and its committees to identify and vet emerging questions of science and policy and ultimately deliver trusted science to answer those questions. That HEI has carried out its work across multiple administrations by bringing often competing interests together in a non-partisan spirit of mutual respect for scientific inquiry and each other is especially gratifying and a much-needed oasis for our time.

It has also been a privilege to help extend the growth and impact of HEI’s science. While maintaining a keen focus on the interests of the dedicated sponsors who have supported HEI since its inception, the Institute has built from scratch and gained support for credible new programs to meet the challenges of global air pollution and assess the benefits and impacts of the energy transition. 

There is much to be grateful for, and now as always, there are important new challenges for HEI to embrace, indeed the Institute has often been at its very best in doing so. Happily, HEI is well positioned to continue its work and contributions, with strong leaders, excellent staff and committee members, and exciting new science initiatives moving forward.

I will miss so many of you whom I have come to call friends as we worked together to achieve worthy goals, but I also expect that our shared commitment to people and the environment will find us together again from time to time.

Warmly,

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Robert O'Keefe
Vice President Emeritus,
Health Effects Insititue
rokeefe@healtheffects.org
lstudie@gmail.com