Conference Speakers

John Warner, Ph.d.

CEO & CTO, The Technology Greenhouse

BIOGRAPHY

John Warner is a globally recognized chemist, inventor, and entrepreneur, celebrated as one of the co-founders of the field of green chemistry. Alongside Paul Anastas, he authored the definitive book and principles of green chemistry in 1998, shaping a discipline that now guides sustainable innovation worldwide. He is CEO and CTO of the Technology Greenhouse and co-founder of the education nonprofit Beyond Benign.

With equal career experience in industry, academia, and entrepreneurship, John has worked with over 100 companies, filed more than 360 patents, and founded the world’s first Ph.D. program in Green Chemistry at the University of Massachusetts. His scientific contributions span polymeric materials, metal oxides, noncovalent derivatization, and synthetic methodologies, resulting in over 120 publications and numerous commercialized inventions, including technologies for ALS treatment, non-toxic hair color, recycled asphalt, indoor photovoltaics, and biodegradable polymers.

John’s many honors include the Perkin Medal, the August Wilhelm von Hofmann Medal from the German Chemical Society, and the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Mentoring. He holds academic appointments on six continents and has been named among “25 Visionaries Changing the World” by Utne Reader. In Berlin, the “John Warner Center for Start Ups in Green Chemistry” stands as a testament to his lasting impact on the field.

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Green Chemistry as the Foundation of Sustainability and the Circular Economy

While there is a lot of discussion about WHY we need sustainability (Climate Change, Forever Chemicals, Human Toxicity, Ecosystem Degradation…) and WHAT we should do to measure and characterize sustainability (LCA’s, UN SDGs, Circular Economy, Safe and Sustainable by Design, Planetary Boundaries…) It is especially important to discuss HOW we should make these changes. This is the domain of Green Chemistry. When a researcher contemplates a new experiment, when an inventor imagines a new product, he or she makes several small and large decisions that will have a profound impact on the ultimate sustainability of what they do. If they do not have the skills and tools to understand the sustainability implications at the mechanistic molecular level (green chemistry), it is unlikely that they will successfully achieve sustainability objectives. This presentation will discuss how green chemistry can be integrated into the earliest stages of research and development to ensure maximum sustainability. Real world, commercialized examples will be used to illustrate key points.