Bina Venkataraman

Venkataraman was born in 1979 to Indian immigrants and grew up in Wooster, Ohio.{{Cite web|last=McCarthy|first=Gail|date=2020-02-26|title=Delving into the 'Optimist's Telescope'; Manship residency author ponders shortsighted society|url=https://www.salemnews.com/news/lifestyles/delving-into-the-optimists-telescope-manship-residency-author-ponders-shortsighted-society/article_7f0bb7d9-7a3f-508d-be14-091fea199cad.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-20|website=Salem News|language=en}} She was valedictorian of her class at Wooster High School.{{Cite web|last=Wiesenberg|first=Julia|date=2019-10-27|title=Buckeye Book Fair: Venkataraman releases optimistic new book|url=https://www.the-daily-record.com/lifestyle/20191027/buckeye-book-fair-venkataraman-releases-optimistic-new-book|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105151145/https://www.the-daily-record.com/lifestyle/20191027/buckeye-book-fair-venkataraman-releases-optimistic-new-book |archive-date=2019-11-05 |access-date=2020-12-20|website=The Daily Record|language=en}}

Venkataraman received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University in 2002, studying International Relations and Environmental Studies. She then received a Fulbright Program Fellowship and worked as a Communications and Research Coordinator at the Rainforest Alliance from 2002 to 2005, where she wrote about community and private-sector projects that supported rainforest conservation, including sustainable coffee farms and global eco-tourism.{{Cite web|url=https://www.csrwire.com/press_releases/13756--Drink-Environmentally-Responsibly-Urges-The-Rainforest-Alliance-And-Millstone-Coffee|title='Drink (Environmentally) Responsibly' Urges The Rainforest Alliance And Millstone Coffee – Press Releases on CSRwire.com|website=www.csrwire.com|access-date=2020-04-16}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/ADVISOR/07/16/ecotourism/index.html|title=See the world, protect the earth|last=Hunter|first=Marnie|date=2004-07-16|website=www.cnn.com|access-date=2020-04-16}} Venkataraman then became a Princeton in Asia fellow, working in Hanoi, Vietnam as a public health grant writer for an HIV/AIDS hospital.{{Cite web|url=https://piaweb.princeton.edu/alumni-of-the-fortnight/bina-venkataraman|title=Bina Venkataraman {{!}} Princeton In Asia|website=piaweb.princeton.edu|access-date=2020-04-16}}

In 2006, Venkataraman began studying Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, where she received her Master's degree in 2008.

From 2010 to 2019, Venkataraman served as the Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of Harvard University and taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During that time, she served as Senior Adviser to Eric Lander while he was co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).{{Cite web|url=https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/100kin10-partners-applaud-white-house-announcement-to-launch-stem-master-teacher-corps/|title=100Kin10 Partners Applaud White House Announcement to Launch STEM Master Teacher Corps|date=2012-07-18|website=Carnegie Corporation of New York|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}} In that capacity, she co-authored several reports for the PCAST, including a 2010 report on K-12 education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), a 2011 report on ensuring American leadership in advanced manufacturing, and a 2012 report on drug discovery, develop and evaluation.{{Cite book|last=President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/ostp/pcast-stem-ed-final.pdf|title=Report to the President: Prepare and Inspire K-12 Education in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) for America's Future|publisher=Executive Office of the President of the United States|date=September 2010}}{{cite report|url=https://www.broadinstitute.org/files/sections/about/PCAST/2012%20pcast-fda.pdf|title=Report to the President on Propelling Innovation in Drug Discovery, Development, and Evaluation|date=September 2012|access-date=2020-04-16}} From 2013 to 2015, she took a sabbatical to work in the White House under President Barack Obama. There, she served as a senior advisor for climate change innovation, building partnerships among communities, companies, and government to prepare for climate disasters including heat waves, droughts, and coastal storms.

She previously served on Brown University's Institute for Environment and Society advisory board as well as Brown's President's Leadership Council, advising Christina Hull Paxson.{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/academics/institute-environment-society/advisory-council|title=Advisory Council {{!}} Institute at Brown for Environment and Society|website=www.brown.edu|access-date=2020-04-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.brown.edu/about/administration/president/advisory-groups/presidents-leadership-council|title=President's Leadership Council {{!}} Office of the President {{!}} Brown University|website=www.brown.edu|access-date=2020-04-16}} She was also a Future Tense and Carnegie Fellow at the New America Foundation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.newamerica.org/our-people/bina-venkataraman/|title=Bina Venkataraman|website=New America|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}} She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on the Media, Politics, and Public Policy; on the MIT Corporation’s Visiting Committee on the Humanities; and on the Getty Museum's PST ART advisory council.

Venkataraman is also an editor, writer, and author who has focused on climate change, technology, politics, and public health. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Time, among other publications. From 2006 to 2010, she worked on the science desks at The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

Venkataraman became the editorial page editor of The Boston Globe in November 2019.{{cite press release |url=https://www.bostonglobemedia.com/bina-venkataraman-named-opinion-page-editor-the-boston-globe/ |title=Bina Venkataraman named Opinion Page Editor, The Boston Globe |website=Boston Globe Media |date=September 3, 2019 |accessdate=January 31, 2025}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/09/04/globe-names-new-editorial-page-editor/ChZxKGKdGiJUUiGX9cbqvL/story.html|title=Globe names new editorial page editor - The Boston Globe|last=McDonald|first=Danny|date=2019-09-04|website=BostonGlobe.com|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-16}} In this role, Venkataraman aimed to amplify the "diverse voices of our city and better showcase Boston’s groundbreaking ideas and knowledge -- while holding our leaders and institutions accountable for meeting high expectations for public service." In March 2020, she oversaw the editorial board's criticism of Donald Trump's response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the United States.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/03/30/opinion/president-unfit-pandemic/|title=A president unfit for a pandemic|last=The Editorial Board|date=2020-03-30|website=Boston Globe|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2020/03/13/how-obamas-handling-of-ebola-compares-with-trumps-handling-of-coronavirus|title=How Obama's Handling Of Ebola Compares With Trump's Handling Of Coronavirus|last=Singh|first=Arjun|date=2020-03-13|website=News|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}} Venkataraman stepped down as editorial page editor of the Globe, while staying with the paper as an editor-at-large and to help launch The Emancipator, at the end of 2021.{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/20/business/bina-venkataraman-step-down-boston-globe-editorial-page-editor/ |title=Bina Venkataraman to step down as Boston Globe editorial page editor |first=Larry |last=Edelman |website=The Boston Globe |url-access=limited |date=December 20, 2021 |accessdate=January 31, 2025}}

In August 2019, she published her first book, The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age, which explores how human societies can overcome shortsightedness to tackle emerging threats—from climate change to antibiotic-resistant superbugs—to better plan for the future.{{Cite news|last=Frank|first=Robert H.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/27/books/review/bina-venkataraman-optimists-telescope.html|title=Humans Are Impetuous and Shortsighted. Can We Change?|date=2019-08-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2020-04-15|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2019/09/24/the-optimists-telescope-bina-venkataraman|title=Looking At Earth's Future Through 'The Optimist's Telescope'|last=Chakrabarti|first=Meghna|author-link=Meghna Chakrabarti|date=2019-09-24|website=www.wbur.org|language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}} The book draws from research in biology, psychology, and economics to make the case that humans can better plan for the future by adopting certain practices.{{Cite news|last=Hutson|first=Matthew|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/too-much-data-too-little-imagination-why-its-hard-to-achieve-long-term-goals/2019/10/18/adef9a9e-e148-11e9-8dc8-498eabc129a0_story.html|title=Too much data, too little imagination: Why it's hard to achieve long-term goals|date=2019-10-18|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=2020-04-16}} It was named a top book by The Financial Times{{Cite web |title=FT business books of the month: August edition |url=https://www.ft.com/content/3fb8d346-ae36-11e9-8030-530adfa879c2 |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=www.ft.com|date=31 July 2019 |last1=Berwick |first1=Isabel |last2=Hill |first2=Andrew |last3=Moules |first3=Jonathan |last4=Jacobs |first4=Emma }} and a best book of the year by National Public Radio.{{Cite web |title=Books We Love |url=https://apps.npr.org/best-books/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=NPR |language=en-US}}

Venkataraman has also appeared on the TED mainstage and the Aspen Ideas Festival.{{Citation|last=Venkataraman|first=Bina|title=The power to think ahead in a reckless age|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/bina_venkataraman_the_power_to_think_ahead_in_a_reckless_age|work=TED|date=22 August 2019 |language=en|access-date=2020-04-16}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.aspenideas.org/sessions/deep-dive-global-climate-solutions-after-paris?fbrefresh=1587047839|title=Deep Dive: Global Climate Solutions after Paris {{!}} Aspen Ideas|website=Aspen Ideas Festival|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-16}} She gave the 2021 commencement address{{Cite web |date=2021-04-29 |title=Bina Venkataraman named 2021 USC commencement speaker |url=https://news.usc.edu/bina-venkataraman-2021-usc-commencement-speaker/ |access-date=2024-03-01 |website=USC Today |language=en-US}} at the University of Southern California.

The Washington Post announced that Venkataraman would join the newspaper "as a columnist to write about the future" in December 2022.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/pr/2022/12/21/opinion-section-washington-post-adds-new-editorial-hires/ |title=Opinion section at The Washington Post adds new editorial hires |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=December 21, 2022 |accessdate=January 31, 2025}}

• The Optimist's Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age (Aug 2019) {{ISBN|9780735219472}}
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/09/16/why-we-still-need-climate-optimism/ "Why we still need climate optimism"] (Sep 19, 2019) The Washington Post
• [https://grist.org/feature/challenge-for-a-reckless-age-be-better-ancestors/ "Challenge for a Reckless Age: Be Better Ancestors"] (Sept 23, 2019) Grist

• Global Young Leader, French-American Foundation (2015){{Cite web|url=https://frenchamerican.org/young-leader/bina-venkataraman/|title=Bina Venkataraman|website=French-American Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2020-04-15}}
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, University of Southern California (2022)[https://commencement.usc.edu/2022-honorary-degree-recipients/ "2022 Honorary Degree Recipients"] USC Office of University Events, USC; May 13, 2022. Accessed May 25, 2022.

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• {{Official website|http://writerbina.com/}}
• [https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/bina-venkataraman/ Column at The Washington Post]

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Category:Living people

Category:The Boston Globe people

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Category:American women writers of Indian descent

Category:1979 births