Bob Massie (politician)

Robert Kinloch "Bob" Massie IV (born August 17, 1956) is an American activist, author, and politician who works on issues of global leadership and corporate accountability, social justice, and climate change. He has created or led several organizations, including Ceres,[1] the Global Reporting Initiative, the Investor Network on Climate Risk, and the New Economy Coalition. His early activism centered on opposition to South Africa's apartheid regime, writing the about the relationship between the US and South Africa in the apartheid era.[2]

Bob Massie
Bob Massie, 2011
Born
Robert Kinloch Massie IV

(1956-08-17) August 17, 1956
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Yale University (M.Div.)
Harvard University (DBA)
Known forCeres Executive Director; Global Reporting Initiative co-founder
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse(s)Anne Tate
Children3
Parent(s)Robert K. Massie
Suzanne Massie

In 1994, Massie won the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, running on a ticket with Mark Roosevelt, but lost in that year's general election.[3] In 2018, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination to be governor of Massachusetts, and was endorsed by Our Revolution, Massachusetts Peace Action, 350 Action, and a number of other progressive organizations and groups.[4] He lost the primary to Jay Gonzalez, a cabinet official in Deval Patrick's administration.

Early life and education

Massie is the son of historians Robert K. Massie, winner of the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for biography;[5] and Suzanne Massie, who worked in forming the relationship between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev.[6][7]

Massie was born on August 17, 1956, with severe classic hemophilia. As a result of this, his father, Robert Massie Sr., wrote Nicholas and Alexandra (1967), a biography of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, which was produced as the movie Nicholas and Alexandra four years later. Massie's parents also wrote a more personal account of their son's challenges, titled Journey.[8] Because of his childhood health issues, Massie spent ages six through twelve in leg braces and a wheelchair.[9] The family spent a few years living in France, where Massie's healthcare was covered by the French government, and he was able to regain the ability to walk.[10]

Massie entered Princeton University, graduating magna cum laude in 1978 with a degree in history. As an officer of his alumni class he established the Class of 1978 Foundation, one of the first university foundations to fund direct summer service for students.[11][12]

While at Princeton he was active in the student movement for Princeton's divestiture from South Africa,[13] and campaigned for equal access to University dining clubs, many of which did not admit women as members.[14]

After graduating from Princeton, he received his Master of Divinity (M.Div.) degree from Yale in 1982.[15] He received a Doctor of Business Administration from Harvard in 1989.[16]

Professional career

After completing school, Massie became ordained as an Episcopal priest, and became a chaplain at New York City’s Grace Episcopal Church, where he founded a homeless shelter.[17] He later served as a chaplain at Christ Episcopal Church in Somerville, Massachusetts.[18]

From 1989 to 1996 Massie lectured at Harvard Divinity School,[19] and served as Director of the Project on Business Values and the Economy there.[20]

In 1993 Massie received a Senior Fulbright Research Award to spend time in South Africa,[21] where he taught at the University of Cape Town.[22] In 1994 he also served as an official international observer during the first democratic elections in South Africa.[23] His book Loosing The Bonds: The United States and South Africa In The Apartheid Years was completed over the next four years, and published by Doubleday in 1997. It won the Lionel Gelber Prize for the Best Book on International Relations in 1998 and was reviewed favorably across the United States, including the New York Times.[24]

From 1996 to 2003 Massie served as the Executive Director of Ceres,[25] a coalition of environmental groups and institutional investors in the United States.

He also proposed and led the creation of the Investor Network on Climate Risk and the Institutional Investor Summit on Climate Risk, a gathering of public and private sector financial leaders held every two years at UN Headquarters in New York City.[26] At the most recent meeting of the INCR, global investors and pension funds worth more than $22 trillion explored the financial dangers of climate change and pressed for a tripling of investment in clean energy technology to reach an annual goal of $1 trillion a year.[27]

In 1998, in partnership with the United Nations and major U.S. foundations, he co-founded the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) with Allen White.[28] According to the most recent 2017 database, 10,613 organizations have produced 40,155 reports of which 26,675 are GRI reports.[29]

In 2002, Massie was named one of the 100 most influential people in the field of finance by CFO Magazine.[30] In the same year, he learned that he had contracted Hepatitis C from contaminated blood medications used to treat his hemophilia. He resigned from Ceres in order to pursue medical treatment.[31]

Massie founded and co-chaired the Massachusetts Energy Efficiency Coalition,[32] and in 2010 led a campaign against slot machine and casino gambling in Massachusetts. In that year he was awarded the Damyanova Prize for Corporate Social Responsibility[33] by the Institute for Global Leadership[34] at Tufts University, and in April, 2009 he received the Joan Bavaria Innovation and Impact Awards for Building Sustainability in Capital Markets.[35]

In March 2012, Massie became the president of the New Economy Coalition, then called the New Economics Institute,[36] an organization dedicated to moving the American economy toward greater justice and sustainability. He stepped down as president in October 2014.

His autobiography, A Song in the Night: A Memoir of Resilience, was published in 2012 by Nan Talese/Doubleday books.[37]

In May 2014, Massie called on Harvard University to divest its endowment from fossil fuel corporations in an op-ed for The Harvard Crimson.[38] He continued to devote time to the New Economy Coalition.[39]

In November 2015 Massie became the executive director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston.[40]

Political career

In 1975 Massie began working in public politics with a job in the office of U.S. Senator Henry M. Jackson.[41] In 1994 he won the statewide primary election and became the Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts. The Democratic ticket was defeated by incumbent Republican governor Bill Weld.

In January 2011, Massie declared his candidacy for the United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 2012.[42][43] In April 2011, Democratic strategist Joe Trippi joined the Massie campaign.[44] Massie ended his campaign on October 7, citing the entrance of Elizabeth Warren into the race.[45]

During the 2016 Democratic Party presidential primary, Massie supported Bernie Sanders.[46]

2018 gubernatorial campaign

On May 16, 2017, Massie began a campaign for the Democratic nomination in the Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2018. His platform, he said, focused on climate change initiatives, workers' rights and economic equality.[47] He lost the primary election on September 4, 2018.

2020 Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair campaign

In October 2020, Massie announced that he was running for election to a four-year term as chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and posted a YouTube video about his candidacy.[48]

Personal life

In 1984 he was diagnosed with HIV, which he had contracted in 1978, from medical injections. By 1994 he was one of the longest survivors with HIV and offered his case to Dr. Bruce D. Walker at Massachusetts General Hospital for review.[49] Extensive study of Massie's blood has contributed to research and treatment studies around the world, and he was the subject of a NOVA documentary in 1999.[50] In 1996 and 2002 Massie had surgeries to replace his knee joints, damaged from the repetitive joint bleeds.

In June 2009, Massie received a liver transplant, in a procedure performed at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, which cured not only his hepatitis C, but also his hemophilia. The clotting factor in blood is produced in the liver.[51][52]

After graduation from Yale he met and married Dana Robert,[53] with whom he had two sons, Sam (born 1987), and John (b. 1989). The couple divorced in 1995. In 1996 Massie married Anne Tate, an architect and professor at Rhode Island School of Design,[54] with whom he has a daughter, Katherine (b. 1998).

References

  1. "Boston nonprofit Ceres stresses green effort – Its philosophy: Good environmental policy is good for business". The Boston Globe. 2015-02-01. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  2. "Loosing the Bonds: The United States and South Africa in the Apartheid Years, review by Gail M. Gerhart". Foreign Affairs. 1998-07-01. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  3. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/23/massie-enters-race-for-governor/rKnMNFU2kyYv4YZOFmIqjL/story.html
  4. "Massie, Gonzalez try to create daylight between themselves during gubernatorial debate – The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  5. "The Pulitzer Prizes". www.Pulitzer.org. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  6. Mann, James (2009). The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. Penguin Group.
  7. "Agent of Influence". SuzanneMassie.com. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  8. "Books: Blood Will Tell". Time. May 19, 1975.
  9. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/17/us/1994-campaign-massachusetts-bitter-campaign-season-candidate-rejects-politics.html
  10. https://www.wgbh.org/news/2017/05/18/boston-public-radio-podcast/first-he-learned-walk-again-now-bob-massie-running-governor
  11. "OIP: Princeton Funding". Princeton.edu. 2011-06-23. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  12. "Princeton University Class of 1978". Princeton78.com. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  13. http://www.princeton.edu/paw/archive_new/PAW04-05/15-0608/features1.html
  14. http://entertainment.time.com/2012/05/15/the-fighter-from-sickly-three-life-threatening-illnesses/
  15. https://divinity.yale.edu/alumni/alumni-awards/award-recipients/robert-k-massie-jr-82-mdiv
  16. "June 2002 – Alumni Bulletin – Harvard Business School". Alumni.hbs.edu. 2002-06-01. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  17. http://www.thesomervilletimes.com/archives/75708
  18. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/04/23/massie-enters-race-for-governor/rKnMNFU2kyYv4YZOFmIqjL/story.html
  19. https://billmoyers.com/story/bob-massie-visionary-candidate/
  20. https://cbey.yale.edu/our-community/bob-massie
  21. http://staging-news.worcester.edu/candidate-governor-bob-massie-visits-wsu-meet-greet/
  22. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/17/us/1994-campaign-massachusetts-bitter-campaign-season-candidate-rejects-politics.html
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-06-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. Wheatcroft, Geoffrey (January 11, 1998). "Loosing the Bonds Book Review in The New York Times".
  25. Sakellariou, Nicholas (2018-05-04). Life Cycle Assessment of Energy Systems: Closing the Ethical Loophole of Social Sustainability. ISBN 9781119418535.
  26. Walsh, Bryan (January 15, 2010). "After Copenhagen, Getting Business into Green Tech". Time.
  27. "Global investors mobilize action in wake of Paris Climate Agreement". United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. January 27, 2016.
  28. https://sites.hks.harvard.edu/m-rcbg/papers/seminars/szejnwald_brown_presentation_april_07.pdf
  29. "GRI Sustainability Disclosure Database". Retrieved 2017-05-06.
  30. "The Global 100: Investors – Cover Story". CFO.com. 2002-06-25. Archived from the original on 2012-03-20. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  31. "CERES Executive Director Bob Massie steps down – Press Releases on". Csrwire.com. 2003-01-29. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  32. https://tuftsdaily.com/opinion/2018/03/01/617-bob-massie/
  33. "Damyanova Award to Robert Massie". Tuftsgloballeadership.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-17. Retrieved 2017-05-09.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. "Institute for Global Leadership". Tuftsgloballeadership.org. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  35. "Robert Massie Honored – Twice – for Long String of Achievements in Building a Sustainable Global Economy – Ceres". Ceres.org. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  36. "Bob Massie, President and CEO". New Economics Institute. Archived from the original on 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2017-05-09.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  37. "A Song In The Night". Random House Inc. Retrieved 2012-04-23.
  38. "Even the Bricks Cry Out: It's Time for Harvard to Divest". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  39. Confino, Jo. "Driving social and environmental justice into the heart of the US economy". The Guardian. Retrieved February 17, 2015.
  40. https://www.thenation.com/article/bob-massie-putting-climate-democracy-center-massachusetts-governors-race/
  41. Cole, Diane (2012-05-21). "Bad Breaks, Good Works". The Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  42. "Broadside: Bob Massie on Senate campaign". Necn.com. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  43. Loth, Renee (January 16, 2011). "The timely return of Bob Massie". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  44. Goodison, Donna (2011-04-26). "Joe Trippi joins Robert Massie campaign". BostonHerald.com. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  45. "Bob Massie drops out of U.S. Senate race". BostonHerald.com. 2017-10-07. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
  46. https://digboston.com/cash-rules-everything-around-mass/
  47. Andersen, Travis (May 17, 2017). "Democrat Robert Massie kicks off campaign to unseat Charlie Baker". The Boston Globe. Retrieved May 17, 2017.
  48. Bob Massie's Ten-point Plan for Strengthening the Massachusetts Democratic Party. YouTube. November 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  49. "HHMI Scientist Bio: Bruce D. Walker, M.D". Hhmi.org. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  50. "NOVA | Transcripts | Surviving AIDS". PBS. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  51. "Transplant Press Release".
  52. "Transplant TV clip".
  53. "Dana Robert » Religion and Conflict Transformation » Boston University". Bu.edu. 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-06-27.
  54. "Anne Tate; Faculty; Architecture; RISD". Risd.edu. Retrieved 2017-05-09.
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