2026 Annual Meeting
Energy Security in an Era of Recurring Geopolitical Shocks
Keynote Speaker
Michael Cembalest
Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy, J.P. Morgan Asset and Wealth Management
Michael Cembalest is the Chairman of Market and Investment Strategy for J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management, a global leader in investment management and private banking. He is responsible for leading the strategic market and investment insights across the firm’s Institutional, Funds and Private Banking businesses. He is also a member of the J.P. Morgan Asset & Wealth Management Investment Committee and previously served on the Investment Committee for the J.P. Morgan Retirement Plan. Most recently, Cembalest acted as Chief Investment Officer for the firm’s Global Private Bank, a role he held for eight years. He was previously head of a fixed income division of Investment Management, with responsibility for high grade, high yield, emerging markets and municipal bonds. Before joining Asset Management, Cembalest served as head strategist for Emerging Markets Fixed Income at J.P. Morgan Securities. He joined J.P. Morgan in 1987 as a member of the firm’s Corporate Finance division. Cembalest earned an M.A. from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs and a B.A. from Tufts University.
Moderators and Panelists
Steven Cowley
Director, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory; Professor of Astrophysical Sciences, Princeton University
Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) on July 1, 2018 and a professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University on September 1, 2018. Prior to that he was president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom (2016-2018). Cowley also acted as chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy from 2008-2016. He earned his doctorate at Princeton University in astrophysical sciences in 1985 and was a staff scientist at PPPL from 1987 to 1993. From 2011-2016 he was a member of the UK Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology.
Chris Greig
Associate Director for External Partnerships, Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
Chris Greig is the Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Senior Research Scientist at the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, at Princeton University. He holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from The University of Queensland and is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. He also serves on the Sustainability Advisory Council for Dow Chemical Company, and the Board of Australia’s Future Energy Exports CRC.
His research on energy and industrial transitions is interdisciplinary and deeply collaborative with industry, focusing on critical non-engineering challenges to mobilizing decarbonization infrastructure at speed and scale, including supply chains, finance, and social license. He co-led Princeton’s influential Net-Zero America study and is leading collaborations on similar studies in Australia, and rapidly growing Asian countries. Prior to academia, Chris spent three decades working in the private sector, first as a successful company founder, and then as a senior executive and director in the energy and resources sectors.
Kate Hardin
Executive Director, Deloitte Research Center for Energy and Industrials, Deloitte
Kate Hardin is the current leader of Deloitte research across energy and industrial manufacturing and has worked in the global energy industry for 30 years. Before Deloitte, Hardin led global energy research for institutional investors and analysis of electrification’s impact on the oil and gas sector at IHS Markit. At Cambridge Energy Research Associates, (CERA) she led the firm’s coverage of Russian and Caspian energy development. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the US-Japan Foundation fellows program. Hardin received both an MA and MBA from Yale University.
Bernard Haykel
Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University
Bernard Haykel is a scholar of the Arabian Peninsula, focusing on the politics, economics, cultures and history of the Gulf Cooperation Council states and Yemen. He is professor of near eastern studies at Princeton University where he teaches courses on energy, history and politics. Haykel is completing a book titled “The Realm: Muhammad bin Salman and the Transformation of Saudi Arabia” will be published by Penguin Press. The book is about the modern political history of the Kingdom and the rise to power of its crown prince. Haykel is also considered an authority on Islamist political movements and Islamic law. He earned his doctorate in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford.
Andrew Houck
Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Anthony H.P. Lee ’79 P11 P14 Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Princeton University
Andrew Houck, the dean of Princeton’s school of engineering and applied science, has been on Princeton’s faculty since 2008. His research focuses on the intersection of quantum mechanics and computer science. He has played a leading role in developing one of the most promising approaches to building a quantum computer, a machine capable of solving problems that are impossible on classical devices. He served as the inaugural co-director of the Princeton Quantum Initiative and director of the Co-Design Center for Quantum, which is one of five Department of Energy research centers established in support of the National Quantum Initiative. Houck is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers and is a fellow of the American Physical Society. A 2013 recipient of Princeton’s President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching and the valedictorian of Princeton’s Class of 2000, Houck is also a leader in educational initiatives, spearheading the creation of the University’s first-year engineering curriculum. He earned his Ph.D. in physics at Harvard University.
Jesse Jenkins
Moderator, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
Jesse D. Jenkins is an associate professor of energy systems engineering and policy at Princeton University with a joint appointment in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment. He leads the Princeton ZERO Lab, which focuses on improving and applying energy systems models to evaluate and optimize low-carbon energy technologies, guide investment and research in innovative energy technologies, and generate insights to improve energy and climate policy and planning. His scholarship and teaching have been recognized with multiple awards, including the Howard B. Wentz, Jr. Junior Faculty Award. Dr. Jenkins’ public impact on American energy policy has also been honored by inclusion on the TIME100 Next, TIME100 Climate and Vox.com Future Perfect 50 lists. He advises several clean energy technology companies and is the co-founder and CTO of Firma Power, which assembles portfolios of ready-to-build assets to supply load-enabling clean firm power to data centers and other large loads.
Lynn Loo
Chief Executive Officer, Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation, Singapore; Theodora D. ’78 and William H. Walton III ’74 Professor in Engineering, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University
Lynn Loo is CEO of the Global Centre for Maritime Decarbonisation (GCMD), an independent international action tank working with industry to accelerate shipping’s fuel transition. She has led GCMD to run large-scale, pre-competitive initiatives in real-world settings, including the world’s first ship-to-ship ammonia transfer at anchorage, biofuel supply-chain trials, onboard carbon capture offloading, and the launch of shipping’s first retrofit fund for energy-efficiency technologies. GCMD now works with over 130 partners globally.
At Princeton, her work spans fundamental materials science through technology commercialisation. Her group pioneered see-through solar cells that wirelessly power smart windows to reduce energy use and improve occupant comfort. This work is being advanced through Andluca Technologies, a startup she co-founded.
A Member of the National Academy of Engineering, Lynn is a Fellow of AIChE, APS, and MRS, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and was named to Lloyd’s List’s Top 100 People in Shipping in 2022.
Iain McCulloch
Director, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Gerhard R. Andlinger ’52 Professor in Energy and the Environment, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
Iain McCulloch is director of the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Gerhard R. Andlinger ’52 Professor in Energy and the Environment and professor of electrical and computer engineering and the Andlinger Center at Princeton University. He also holds a visiting professor position in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. He previously held joint appointments as professor of chemical science and director of KAUST Solar Center at KAUST, as well as a chair in polymer materials in the chemistry department at Imperial College. Before joining academia, he spent 18 years managing industrial research groups at Hoechst in the US and Merck in the UK. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the European Academy of Sciences and a member of Academia Europaea. He is the recipient of the 2022 Royal Society Armourers and Brasiers Prize, the 2020 Blaise Pascal Medal for Materials Science, the Royal Society of Chemistry 2020 Interdisciplinary Prize, 2014 Tilden Medal for Advances in Chemistry and the 2009 Creativity in Industry Prize. His interests are in the design and investigation of organic semiconducting materials.
Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja
Sustainability Advisor, PT Pertamina (Persero), Indonesia
Widhyawan Prawiraatmadja is Sustainability Advisor to PT Pertamina (Persero) and Senior Practitioner Lecturer at the School of Business and Management, Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB). He has more than three decades of experience in the energy sector, spanning government, state-owned enterprises, industry, consulting, and academia. He previously served as Special Advisor to Indonesia’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, a member of the Board of Commissioners of Pertamina, and Indonesia’s Governor to OPEC. He also held senior leadership positions at SKK Migas, including Deputy Chairman for Commercial and Deputy Chairman for Planning, and earlier served as Senior Vice President for Corporate Planning, Business Development, and Corporate-wide Transformation at Pertamina. Widhyawan holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from ITB and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Economics from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
Cindy Yeilding
Gerhard R. Andlinger Visiting Fellow, Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University
Cindy Yeilding is a geoscientist with over 35 years of technical and leadership experience in the energy industry, specializing in business development, operations, research, and technological innovation. A leader in sustainability and the energy transition, her recent work focuses on developing and implementing carbon capture, utilization, and storage solutions. She possesses deep expertise in both corporate and nonprofit governance, most recently serving as a member of the Board of Directors for Denbury Inc. and as chair of The Center for Houston’s Future.
At the Andlinger Center, Yeilding is exploring an intersectional suite of interests that bridge technology applications with policy, economics, and strategic decision-making. Collaborating with faculty sponsor Chris Greig and Elke Weber, she is helping investigate how trust and collaboration impact the deployment of energy infrastructure. Her work also advances broader conversations surrounding energy awareness, climate challenges, and clean energy initiatives. Dedicated to mentorship, she also enjoys helping students and professionals explore and prepare for careers across the energy sector.
