Robert Nathan Danziger

Energy environmentalist, lawyer, inventor and musician

California State University, Monterey Bay

Robert Nathan Danziger is a committed energy environmentalist, lawyer, inventor and musician. His career linking the sciences, humanities and the arts embodies the interdisciplinary values integral to the Vision Statement of California State University, Monterey Bay.

Mr. Danziger founded the Sunlaw Company, reflecting his interests in alternative energy and law. He has worked in a variety of areas related to his environmental interests, including for Khosla Ventures (biotechnology due diligence); National Semiconductor (smart grid); Goal Line Environmental technology (catalysis, nanotechnology); Calera (cement from seawater and CO2); Gridpoint (smart grid, electric and hybrid vehicles); Google (electric and hybrid vehicles); Carmel Highlands Inventions (most recent patent, electricity from the non-carbon portions of coal, acid mine drainage remediation in situ coal gasification); and Cogentrix (CO2 management options for coal-fired power plants focusing on making wood or masonry-substitute materials from greenhouse gases).

An inventor, Mr. Danziger has six issued patents, including one for a "Walking Chair," a medical assistive device for individuals with back problems. In addition, Mr. Danziger has five music albums to his credit. He has composed several sound sculptures, including 1910 Nocturne, which played as part of the exhibition "Painting by Moonlight" at the Monterey Museum of Art in 2009, and Steinbeck's Chinatown, which debuted in April 2010 and ran until July 4, 2010, at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas. Mr. Danziger has connected with the CSU Monterey Bay campus in a variety of ways, including his support of community partnerships in the arts and humanities, and his participation as a lecturer in the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

In recognition of his accomplishments as an innovative and cross-disciplinary thinker, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, Monterey Bay are proud to confer upon Robert Nathan Danziger the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts.