Denis Hayes - Career

Career

During the Carter Administration, Hayes became head of the Solar Energy Research Institute (now known as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory), but left this position when the Reagan administration cut funding for the program. Hayes went back to school and completed a Juris Doctor degree at Stanford Law School, and went on to become an adjunct professor of engineering in that university and litigator with law firm Cooley Godward.

Since 1992, Hayes has been president of the Bullitt Foundation in Seattle, Washington and continues to be a leader in environmental and energy policy. By mobilizing the resources of The Bullitt Foundation, Hayes intends to make the Pacific Northwest the best-educated, most environmentally aware, most progressive corner of America—a global model for sustainable development. Also in Seattle are Hayes' wife, Gail Boyer Hayes (daughter of Paul D. Boyer), and daughter, Lisa A. Hayes (a lawyer defending the Northshore United Church of Christ regarding Tent City 4 (King County, Washington).

Over Hayes' career, he has been a visiting scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center, a senior fellow at the Worldwatch Institute, an adjunct professor of engineering at Stanford University, a Silicon Valley lawyer, and author. He has served on dozens of governing boards, including those of Stanford University, the World Resources Institute, the Federation of American Scientists, The Energy Foundation, Children Now, the National Programming Council for Public Television, the American Solar Energy Society, Greenpeace, CERES, and the Environmental Grantmakers Association.