Andrew Light served as Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy from 2021 to 2025. At the Department of Energy, Light helped to accelerate and expand some three-dozen bilateral clean energy and energy security dialogues, forums, councils, and partnerships with countries from all regions of the world. He was also lead U.S. negotiator and Ministerial Sherpa for successful energy tracks of the G7, G20, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation platform, and served as Vice Chair of the Governing Board of the International Energy Agency.
Previously, Light served as Senior Adviser and India Counselor to the U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change, and as a Staff Climate Adviser in Secretary of State John Kerry’s Office of Policy Planning in the U.S. Department of State. In this capacity, he was Co-Chair of the U.S.-India Joint Working Group on Combating Climate Change, Chair of the Climate Working Group on the Sustainable Development Goals, and served on the senior strategy team for the UN climate negotiations that led to the creation of the Paris Agreement.
“The University of Chicago is a world leader in bringing data-driven analysis to create practical solutions to urgent policy problems, climate change, and the necessary clean energy transition, being chief among them. I’m thrilled to join the Institute team and work to design instruments that advance global cooperation on these critical issues.”