Ajello Professor, Peter Wilcoxen
The inaugural holder of the Ajello Professorship, Peter Wilcoxen studies the effect of environmental and energy policies on economic growth, international trade and the performance of individual industries.
He has published more than 70 papers and co-authored books on the design of an international policy to control climate change, on the design and construction of large-scale economic models and on using environmental taxes as part of fiscal reform in the United States.
His research has been funded by, among others, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the U.S. Geological Survey.
About James Ajello
The Ajello Professorship and its related projects and programs are made possible by a gift from Maxwell School alumnus James Ajello '76 MPA, a retired energy industry executive who, until early 2017, served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI), a position he assumed in 2009.
Mr. Ajello previously served as chairman of the U.S. Department of Energy Environmental Management Advisory Board and now serves on the boards of American Savings Bank, Crius Energy in Toronto and Hawaii Pacific University.
His support of CEPA ties back directly to work he had done as a Maxwell student. “About 40 years ago I did research in Harry Lambright’s class on this very topic—multidisciplinary approaches to energy and environmental issues,” he says. “Virtually every job I’ve had since Maxwell, in the public and private sectors, has immersed me in this very interesting topic. Yet there is so much more to learn to achieve an energy efficient and sustainable society. This work is more important than ever, and that is why I am delighted to support training and research this valuable field.”