Thomas Graedel

Thomas Graedel is the Clifton R. Musser Professor Emeritus of Industrial Ecology. His research is centered on developing and enhancing industrial ecology, the organizing framework for the study of the interactions of modern technological society with the environment. The co-author of the first textbook on the subject (Industrial Ecology, Prentice Hall, 1995), he has since continued to contribute to the field with numerous books and scholarly articles and has been recognized with several significant awards. His latest book, Industrial Ecology and Sustainability, co-authored with Professor Matthew Eckelman, was published in 2023. His environmental assessment matrix, developed during a 27-year career with AT&T Bell Laboratories, is now a standard industrial tool for streamlined life-cycle assessments of the environmental attributes of products, processes, and facilities. He was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering in 2002 for “outstanding contributions to the theory and practice of industrial ecology.”