Vijay V. Vaitheeswaran (b. April 5, 1969) is the global energy and climate innovation editor of ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

''. Previously he served as ''The Economist's'' U.S. business editor and its first China bureau chief. His editorial expertise includes climate change, energy and the environment, business, corporate governance, finance, international trade, geopolitics and economics, science, technology and innovation. Vaitheeswaran was born in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and grew up in

Cheshire, Connecticut Cheshire ( ), is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. At the time of the 2020 census, the population of Cheshire was 28,733. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The center of population of Connecticut i ...

. He graduated from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

with a degree in mechanical engineering and was named a Harry S. Truman Presidential Scholar by the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a bicameral legislature, including a lower body, the U.S. House of Representatives, and an upper body, the U.S. Senate. They both ...

. He started working at ''The Economist'' as an intern. After a year as a correspondent, he opened the publication's first office in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

. From 1998 to 2006 he was the Environment and Energy Correspondent for The Economist and from 2007 to 2011 he covered innovation and health issues. Vijay is a life member at the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

. He is an advisor on sustainability and innovation to the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

, and a regular speaker at the

Clinton Global Initiative The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was e ...

. He teaches at

NYU New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a non-denominational all-male institutio ...

's Stern Business School. He served previously as chairman of ''The'' ''Economist's'' provocative series of conferences on innovation known as the Ideas Economy. In 2003 he published ''Power to the People, How the Coming Energy Revolution will Change our Lives, and maybe even Save the Planet''. The book pays particular attention to

alternative fuel Alternative fuels, also known as non-conventional and advanced fuels, are fuels derived from sources other than petroleum. Alternative fuels include gaseous fossil fuels like propane, natural gas, methane, and ammonia; biofuels like biodies ...

sources, such as those used in the

Tesla Roadster (2008) The first generation Tesla Roadster is a battery electric sports car, that is based on the Lotus Elise chassis, and was produced by Tesla Motors (now Tesla, Inc.) from 2008 to 2012. The Roadster was the first highway legal, serial production ...

and

plug-in hybrid A plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) or simply plug-in hybrid is a type of hybrid electric vehicle equipped with a rechargeable battery pack that can be directly replenished via a charging cable plugged into an external electric power so ...

s. The book also examines the benefits of distributed power and

smart grid The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is main ...

s. The book was reviewed by Nobel Prize winner (and former Chief Science Advisor to the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

)

John Holdren John Paul Holdren (born March 1, 1944) is an American scientist who served as the senior advisor to President Barack Obama on science and technology issues through his roles as assistant to the president for science and technology, director of the ...

in ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...

'' as "by far the most helpful, entertaining, up-to-date and accessible treatment of the energy-economy-environment problematique available." In 2007, he co-authored ''ZOOM": The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future'', with Iain Carson. ''ZOOM'' was nominated as a finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year. His 2012

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

book on the future of global innovation, ''Need, Speed and Greed: How the New Rules of Innovation Can Transform Businesses, Propel Nations to Greatness, and Tame the World's Most Wicked Problems,'' which was called "the perfect primer for the postindustrial age." As a speaker, Vijay Vaitheeswaran is exclusively represented by Keppler Speakers.

References

External links

Power to the People
''official website''
Profile
at ''

''
Author profile
at ''

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd in the United Kingdom and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC in the United States) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be on ...

''
Speaking Agent - The Insight Bureau
at The Lavin Agency * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vaitheeswaran, Vijay V. Living people Indian emigrants to the United States MIT School of Engineering alumni The Economist people American male journalists Hybrid electric vehicle advocates 1969 births People from Cheshire, Connecticut American male writers of Indian descent American writers of Indian descent American people of Indian Tamil descent