Peter Gleick, Ph.D., is co-founder and President of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment, and Security in Oakland, California. His research and writing address the critical connections between water and human health, the hydrologic impacts of climate change, sustainable water use, privatization and globalization, and international conflicts over water resources.

Gleick, an internationally recognized water expert, was named a MacArthur Fellow in October 2003 for his work. In 2001, Gleick was dubbed a "visionary on the environment" by the British Broadcasting Corporation. That same year he was also appointed to the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Academy of Sciences based in Washington, D.C. In 1999, he was elected an Academician of the International Water Academy, in Oslo, Norway.

Gleick received a B.S. from Yale University and an M.S. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. He serves on the boards of numerous journals and organizations, and is the author of many scientific papers and four books, including the biennial water report, The World's Water, published by Island Press (Washington, D.C.).