STATEMENT: WRI Mourns the Loss of Lee Schipper, Co-founder of EMBARQ

Lee Schipper (1947- 2011)

The World Resources Institute mourns the loss of Leon “Lee” Schipper, who passed away on August 16 following a battle with cancer. A dynamic leader and treasured colleague, Lee co-founded EMBARQ— WRI’s Center for Sustainable Transport. Most recently, Lee was a project scientist with Global Metropolitan Studies at UC Berkeley and was a Senior Research Engineer at the Precourt Institute of Energy Efficiency at Stanford University.

Following is a statement from Manish Bapna, WRI’s interim president:

“Today, we remember Lee Schipper, a great and visionary leader in the transportation and environment community. Lee was a friend, leader and mentor to countless WRI staff, where he was known for his tremendous intelligence, his agile mind, his warm manner and his wit.

At WRI, Lee helped create EMBARQ, a pioneer in developing sustainable transportation solutions. Under his watch, EMBARQ’s work expanded into Mexico, China, India and beyond, and Lee pushed to incorporate data driven solutions to meet transportation challenges. Lee travelled constantly and was amazingly prolific, authoring more than 100 papers and books on topics on energy, transportation and the environment. Lee’s influence reached around the globe as he took part in countless panels and studies, and served on the board of several institutions and as an advisor and consultant to many more.

“Beyond his work, Lee was known for his energy, his charm, his endless curiosity, and his range of interests from history to art to music. Lee’s presence in our lives will be truly missed, but his spirit and influence will not soon be forgotten.”

Read a profile of Lee, here

Read an online journal kept by Lee’s family, here