Indian American Penn State professor inducted into Club of Rome

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Penn State’s Indian American chief sustainability officer Paul Shrivastava was inducted as a full member of the Club of Rome during its annual meeting held Oct. 17-18.

Shrivastava is also the director of the Sustainability Institute and a professor of management in the Smeal College of Business.

“It’s an honor to be a part of a group with such dedication and consistency in what they execute,” he is quoted saying in a press release.

Shrivastava has been following the Club of Rome’s work for nearly 45 years and its priorities have “profoundly influenced me to implement my ideas and bring awareness to Penn State campuses,” according to Shrivastava.

Shrivastava’s ideas include an expanded focus on youth engagement at Penn State and one of his priorities is not only to familiarize Penn State students on all 23 campuses with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, but to encourage students to take action developing strategies to meet these goals.

As explained on the U.N. website, the Sustainable Development Goals “recognize that ending poverty must go hand-in-hand with strategies that build economic growth and addresses a range of social needs including education, health, social protection, and job opportunities, while tackling climate change and environmental protection.”

According to a press release, Shrivastava also seeks to emphasize the role of the arts and humanities both to build awareness about sustainability and to power innovations in how we think about sustainability.

Shrivastava added that being invited to become a full member of the Club of Rome is not only an honor but a privilege and a commitment, and he plans on working with the organization for years to come to contribute to its continued problem-solving focus.

The Club of Rome was founded in 1968, and it focuses, on making a difference by promoting an “understanding of the global challenges facing humanity” and proposing “solutions through scientific analysis, communication and advocacy,” according to their website.