3 minute read
Larry Huntington
Outdoorsman, philanthropist, Emeritus Director
Margaret Lin, Communications Manager
The first time Dr. George Woodwell asked Larry Huntington to join the Center’s board of directors, Huntington declined. He was currently Board Chair of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a role Woodwell had previously held. However, Huntington remembers that Woodwell was “very persistent.”
“The day I finished my term as chairman [of WWF], George called me up and said, ‘How about now?’” Huntington laughs. “I came aboard and never looked back.”
Huntington is a long-time appreciator of the outdoors—he’s made 8 transatlantic sailing trips, completed 23 Newportto-Bermuda races, and has even climbed Mt. Everest twice. What drew him to Woodwell Climate, beyond his friendship with its founder, was the organization’s commitment to policy impact.
“I think what interested me most about George’s approach was that he recognized that pure research without a policy eventuality was a waste of time,” says Huntington. “He was interested in creating the basis for policy change from the very beginning.”
Huntington served on the Center’s board from 1994 to 2015, including terms as Chair and Treasurer, and now as Emeritus Director. He brought a deep knowledge of finance from his career at Fiduciary Trust Company International in New York City, where he served for 30 years as President and Chief Executive Officer.
Early in his time on the board, Huntington recognized the importance of sustainable funding to support the Center’s mission. He created the Huntington Endowed Fund in 1997, and also contributed significantly to the endowment of the George M. Woodwell Chair in Conservation. Having served on the boards of many nonprofit organizations, including Roosevelt Hospital, Trinity Church Wall Street, and New York Law School, Huntington is intimately familiar with a nonprofit organization’s need for long-term sustainable funding.
“An organization which has to raise money every year to pay the salaries of the scientists and the staff has to have some sense of permanence beyond the extraordinary ability of the fundraisers to do their jobs—and that means endowment,” Huntington says. An endowment “will be there forever, and throws off a reasonable percentage every year to cover the overhead of the organization… it’s critical to achieve stability.”
Huntington’s long-time support of the Center and forward-thinking generosity are inspired by his belief in Woodwell Climate’s unique ability to drive climate science for change.
“I think that most people who have thought about climate would agree that this is the overarching issue of our time,” he says. “It needs the best possible work that humans can bring to bear to deal with the problems that humans create.”
