Arthur Sacks
Arthur Sacks is professor emeritus of environmental studies, film studies, and English at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. He served in a variety of administrative and faculty positions for the Institute for Environmental Studies (now Nelson Institute) beginning in 1976, and was its second director from 1985 to 1990.
Dr. Sacks was instrumental in organizing and developing several of the institute’s MS and PhD programs as well as the undergraduate certificate/minor in environmental studies.
Among his accomplishments, he secured numerous major institute grants from public agencies and private foundations. Among these, he obtained about $500,000 in flexible funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation for institute initiatives, and the initial $1.25 million endowment in Climate, People and the Environment from an anonymous donor in honor of the institute’s founding director, Professor Reid A. Bryson.
In 1986, Professor Sacks was appointed by and reported to the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to serve in a leadership role in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Environmental Protection. His Soviet counterpart was the U.S.S.R. minister of education. Dr. Sacks held this role until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He joined the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado, in 1993 to be professor and founding director of the Division of Liberal Arts and International Studies. He served in this capacity for 11 years before being appointed as associate vice president for academic and faculty affairs (associate provost). He held that position for five years before being appointed as director of the McBride Honors Program in Public Affairs for Engineers, a position he held until retiring from Mines in 2011.
During his distinguished career, Dr. Sacks has published and lectured internationally on every continent except Antarctica in the fields of environmental education and sustainability. He has served on numerous editorial boards of refereed environmental studies and environmental education publications and professional journals. He was president of the North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE), being central to expanding the Association from the National Association for Environmental Education (NAEE).
Professor Sacks was privileged to be one of U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson’s many friends and associates, working with him on environmental education matters from 1976 and forward.
He earned his master’s degree and PhD in English at UW-Madison.
Read Arthur Sacks’ full bio (pdf) and watch a video in which he shares the story of the Nelson Institute’s beginnings and how it built an international reputation in environmental studies education, research, and outreach.