Marilyn A. Brown

Regents' Professor

Member Of:
  • School of Public Policy
  • Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory
  • ADVANCE IAC
  • Technology Policy and Assessment Center
Fax Number:404-385-0504
Office Location: DM Smith 312
Related Links:

Overview

Marilyn Brown is a Regents' and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy. She joined Georgia Tech in 2006 after a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she led several national climate change mitigation studies and became a leader in the analysis and interpretation of energy futures in the United States. 

Her research focuses on the design and impact of policies aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies, with an emphasis on the electric utility industry, the integration of energy efficiency, demand response, and solar resources, and ways of improving resiliency to disruptions. Her books include Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), Green Savings: How Policies and Markets Drive Energy Efficiency (Praeger, 2015), and Climate Change and Global Energy Security (MIT Press, 2011). She has authored more than 250 publications. Her work has had significant visibility in the policy arena as evidenced by her numerous briefings and testimonies before state legislative bodies and Committees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

Dr. Brown co-founded the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and chaired its Board of Directors for several years. She has served on the Boards of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance to Save Energy, and was a commissioner with the Bipartisan Policy Center. She has served on eight National Academies committees and is an Editor of Energy Policy and an Editorial Board member of Energy Efficiency and Energy Research and Social Science. She served two terms (2010-2017) as a Presidential appointee and regulator on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power provider. From 2014-2018 she served on DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee, where she led the Smart Grid Subcommittee.

Education:
  • Ph.D., Ohio State University, Geography
  • M.R.P., University of Massachusetts, Regional Planning
  • B.A., Rutgers University, Political Science
Awards and
Distinctions:
  • 2020, Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering
  • 2020, Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences
  • 2017, Regents Professor
  • Brook Byers Chaired Professor, Institute of Sustainable Systems, 2014-2018.
  • 2016 Alliance to Save Energy "Star of Energy Efficiency"
  • DOE Electricity Advisory Board, 2014-2018
  • 2013, “Who’s Who in Sustainability”, Atlanta Business Chronicle.
  • DOE Ambassador for Clean Energy Education and Empowerment, 2013-2017
  • 2012 Southface Energy Institute Award of Excellence
  • Presidential Appointment: Board of Directors, TVA, 2010-2017.
Areas of
Expertise:
  • Economic Development And Smart Cities
  • Energy, Climate, And Environmental Policy
  • Environmental And Energy Economics
  • Utility Economics And Regulation

Interests

Research Fields:
  • Clean Energy
  • Climate Change Adaptation
  • Climate Change Mitigation
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Markets
  • Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy
  • Financing and Subsidies
  • Information Programs
  • Innovation and Diffusion
  • Institutional Analysis
  • Market-based Incentives
  • Regulations and Standards
  • Smart Grid
  • Transportation
  • Voluntary Programs
Geographic
Focuses:
  • Europe
  • United States
  • United States - Georgia
  • United States - Southeast
Issues:
  • Energy
  • Environment

Courses

  • PUBP-3350: Energy Policy
  • PUBP-6001: Intro to Public Policy
  • PUBP-6201: Public Policy Analysis
  • PUBP-6352: Utility Reg & Policy
  • PUBP-6701: Energy Technol & Policy
  • PUBP-8833: Special Topics

Additional Information

Joined Faculty In 2006

Dr. Brown co-founded the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and chaired its Board of Directors for several years. She has served on the Boards of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance to Save Energy, and was a commissioner with the Bipartisan Policy Center. She has served on eight National Academies committees and is an Editor of Energy Policy and an Editorial Board member of Energy Efficiency and Energy Research and Social Science. She served two terms (2010-2017) as a Presidential appointee and regulator on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power provider. From 2014-2018 she served on DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee, where she led the Smart Grid Subcommittee.

Selected
Grants:
  • Behaviorally Based Policies for Better Buildings
  • IGERT Nanostructured Materials
  • Southface Advocacy Capacity Program Concept
  • Development of Collaborative Resarch Programs
  • Future of Electric Power in the South
  • Brook Byers Professorship
  • U.S. Climate Mitigation Policies
Current and
Recent
Projects:
  • PI, 2014-2015, Strategic Energy Institute, “Future of the Electric Grid in the Southeast”.
  • PI, 2013, Southface Institute and Energy Foundation, “Expanded Capacity for Modeling Energy Efficiency in the Southeast”.
  • U.S. Department of Energy support as Review editor of the report by the fifth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Climate Change 2014: Mitigation.
  • Co-PI with Elsa Reichmanis, 2011-2015. National Science Foundation. Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) award to enhance multidisciplinary training in the skills required for conducting research in energy science, technology and policy, with a focus on Nanostructured Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion.
  • PI, 2011-2013, U.S. Department of Energy, “Behaviorally Based Policies for Better Buildings”. This project evaluates the relative merits of 4-6 policy options, using the National Energy Modeling System in conjunction with spreadsheet analysis. Cost-benefit analysis will use social and private-sector perspectives, considering the value of criteria pollution reduction as well as the social cost of carbon, and including sensitivity analysis.
  • PI, 2010-2011, Evaluation of Southeast Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant Program, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance.
  • PI, 2009-2011, U.S. Department of Energy, “Behavioral Research on the Design of Federal Policies to Promote Energy-Efficient Industrial Practices”.
  • PI, 2010-2012, “Southeast Industrial Energy Alliance,” GA Environmental Facilities Authority.
  • PI, 2010-2012, “Technical Support for Eastern Interconnection Demand-side Resource Assessment”.
  • PI, 2009-2010, U.S. Department of Energy, “Behavioral Research on the Design of Federal Policies to Promote Energy-Efficient Homes”.
  • PI, 2010-2012, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “Core University Liaison”.
  • PI, 2009-2011, Energy, Turner and Kresge Foundations, “Integrated Analysis of the Cost and Availability of Supply- and Demand-Side Electricity Resources in the Southeast”.
  • Co-PI with Jan Youtie, 2008-2009. Georgia Board of Regents, Energy and Environmental Workforce: Supply and Demand in Georgia, $20,000.
  • PI, 2007-2008, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and Appalachian Regional Commission, Potential for Energy Efficiency Improvements in the Appalachian Region, $70,000, August 2007 – December 2008
  • Co-PI with Susan Cozzens, National Science Foundation, Models of International Research Collaboration, National Science Foundation, (2008 – 2010).
  • Co-PI with Susan Cozzens, “Basic Research in Energy Science,” sub-award from the European Techno-economic Support Network on project for the European Commission, August 2006 – March 2007
  • PI, 2007-2008, Brookings Institution, Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America.
  • PI, 2007-2008, Sloan Center grant, Potential Impacts of Energy and Climate Policies on the U.S. Pulp and Paper Industry.
  • PI, 2007, European Commission, Basic Research and Innovative Science for Energy ($10,000).
  • PI, 2006-2008, U.S. Department of Energy, Development of a National Strategy for the Deployment of Greenhouse Gas-Reducing Technologies.
  • PI and Vice-Chair, 2006, U.S. Government Review of the Second Order Draft IPCC Report: Climate Change 2007: Mitigation.
  • PI, 2005-2006, U.S. Department of Energy, R&D Portfolio Review of the Multi-agency Climate Change Technology Program.
  • PI, Pew Center on Global Climate Change. 2004. Towards a Climate Friendly Built Environment.
Professional
Associations:
  • RTI International, Design and Evaluation of Demand-Side Management Programs in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2008 - 2009.
  • GE-Energy Services, GE Energy Certificate Program in Business Management of Energy Technologies, 2008.
  • Co-Founder and Chair, Board of Directors, Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance (www.seea.org), 2006-2009.
  • Commissioner, National Commission on Energy Policy, 2002-2009.