Sometimes the seeds of world-changing innovation are planted in the most unexpected moments. For Evelyn Wang, it was a first-grader's confusion about why her Los Angeles neighborhood couldn't water their lawns or flush toilets freely during Southern California's water crisis. That childhood memory of community resilience sparked a lifelong passion that's now positioning her to help save the planet.

Today, Wang leads MIT's comprehensive effort to address climate change and global energy demands as the Institute's inaugural Vice President for Energy and Climate—a newly created position that signals just how seriously MIT is taking our environmental future. After completing an impressive two-year tenure directing the U.S. Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, Wang returned to her alma mater ready to tackle what MIT President Sally Kornbluth calls "the greatest scientific, technical, and policy challenge of this or any age."

Wang's track record of innovation gives plenty of reason for optimism. As the Ford Professor of Engineering, she's already changed what's possible in sustainable technology. Her team developed a device using nanophotonic crystals that could double solar cell efficiency—recognized as one of MIT Technology Review's breakthrough technologies of 2017. Even more remarkable, she invented a system with Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi that extracts water from extremely dry air, earning her the prestigious Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water.

What makes Wang's approach particularly exciting is her understanding that innovation thrives on collaboration. "The beating heart of MIT is innovation," she explains warmly. "We are innovators. And innovation is something that will help us leapfrog some of the potential hurdles as we work toward climate and energy solutions."

Wang recognizes that no single institution can solve climate change alone, which is why she's championing unprecedented collaboration both within MIT and with partners worldwide. The entire campus community shares her enthusiasm—from passionate students to dedicated faculty members, all ready to contribute their expertise to this vital mission.

MIT itself has deep roots in climate and energy research spanning decades, but recent years have seen an inspiring acceleration of efforts. President Kornbluth's Climate Project and the earlier Climate Grand Challenges represent the Institute's expanding commitment to environmental solutions. Wang's appointment to this new vice presidential role demonstrates that MIT isn't just maintaining its efforts—it's dramatically scaling them up.

Wang's personal connection to MIT runs remarkably deep. Her parents met as PhD students from Taiwan in the 1960s and married in the MIT chapel. She studied there as an undergraduate, even meeting her husband Russell Sammon at the Institute. This profound institutional knowledge, combined with her technical brilliance and leadership experience, makes her uniquely qualified to marshal MIT's impressive resources toward climate solutions.

"If we want to solve this problem of climate change, if we want to change the trajectory in the next decade, we cannot continue to do business as usual," Wang says with determination and hope. Her vision recognizes that energy and climate are inseparable challenges requiring transformational thinking—exactly the kind of innovation MIT excels at fostering.

With leaders like Wang at the helm, backed by MIT's unparalleled talent and resources, the future of climate solutions looks genuinely bright.