Printable Biography of John Cronin

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Saving the Hudson River ecosystem has been John Cronin's passion and focus for nearly twenty years, but he hasn't been waging that war alone. Cronin has inspired a student body dedicated to solving the ecological, philosophical, and social challenges presented by the Hudson's development.
Cronin began his career as a commercial fisherman before becoming the nation's first full-time Riverkeeper in 1983, responsible for bringing to justice polluters on the Hudson River. In 1999 he brought his drive and commitment to Pace, as a resident scholar in environmental studies and founding member of the Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic and the Institute for Environmental and Regional Studies, both working to protect the Hudson. He kept his crusade active in the classroom too, helping students in his "Issues in Politics" course research, design, and lobby for environmental legislation. The result of their efforts, the Hudson River Marine Sanitation Act, was signed into law by Governor George Pataki in 1999. Over the years, Cronin and students from the Environmental Litigation Clinic at the School of Law have brought over 150 legal actions against polluters.

Most recently, the author and former commercial fisherman was named Director of the Pace Academy for the Environment (PAE). The PAE seeks to integrate the University's resources with those of the surrounding community in order to create policies, practices and ideas that sustain the mutually beneficial relationship between nature and society.

John Cronin recently appeared in the PBS documentary "America's First River: Bill Moyers On The Hudson" and is a frequent contributor on environmental policy to The New York Times.