The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society has a new faculty director. “I want the Irving Institute to be a place for conversations—sometimes difficult ones—about the energy transition to a low-carbon future,” says Parker, a Thayer School of Engineering professor for the past nine years. “We can have an outsized influence as both a local and global forum for thought leaders.” One example: The 3-year-old institute recently announced a new master of energy transition program that launches this spring.