 Robert "Bob" Gagosian, Ph.D.
- President/CEO of the Consortium for Ocean Leadership
- Former Director – Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Bob Gagosian leads the ocean research community’s association based in Washington, DC, where he oversees the management of major research and education programs, accounting for $175 million; he coordinates the community’s advocacy efforts, articulating to policy makers the importance of ocean research and education.
Gagosian served as Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), from 1994 until 2006, following a distinguished career as a marine geochemist.
As a research scientist, Gagosian studied organic substances produced by marine organisms and their transport and transformation as they disperse through the water column to the seafloor. His research led to the importance of the atmosphere as a transport mechanism for land-derived organic material to the open ocean. He participated in four major field programs, including the Sea-Air Exchange Program, and 14 oceanographic research voyages, including seven as chief scientist. He has authored/co-authored some 85 scientific papers.
Gagosian began at MIT, with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1966 and was named outstanding undergraduate in Chemistry. At Columbia University he received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1970. From 1970 to 1972, he was a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. In 2000 he received Honorary Doctor of Science Degrees from Long Island University and Northeastern University.
In 2001 he was appointed a Faculty Fellow of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland serving three years. In 2002 he was appointed to serve on the Science Advisory Panel of the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and elected a Fellow of The American Academy of Arts & Sciences. In 2005 he was appointed to serve as a commissioner of the U.S. National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Also in 2005, Dr. Gagosian was elected a Fellow of The Explorers Club and in 2006 received the “Champion of the Oceans Award” by Monmouth University. His op-ed pieces and editorials have appeared in a number of publications including The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Science and his views on the importance of the oceans to the future of our society have been expressed in numerous personal presentations worldwide.
He has also served on a wide variety of visiting and advisory committees and research panels for the National Academy of Sciences, National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and universities and research organizations in the US and internationally and participated in numerous ocean related activities with the U.S. Congress and White House.
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