M. Granger Morgan
Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Heinz College
M. Granger Morgan is the Hamerschlag University Professor of Engineering at Carnegie Mellon. He holds appointments in three academic units: the Department of Engineering and Public Policy; the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and the H. John Heinz III College. His research addresses problems in science, technology, and public policy, with a particular focus on energy, electric power, environmental systems, climate change, the adoption of new technologies, and risk analysis. Much of his work has involved the development and demonstration of methods to characterize and treat uncertainty in quantitative policy analysis. At CMU, Morgan co-directs the NSF Center for Climate and Energy Decision Making, and (with Jay Apt) the university's Electricity Industry Center.
Morgan is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. At the National Academies, he serves as the NAS co-chair of the Report Review Committee, and has chaired a variety of consensus studies. Morgan is a member of the board for the International Risk Governance Council Foundation, and of the Advisory Board for the E.ON Energy Research Center, RWTH Aachen. He is a member of the DOE's Electricity Advisory Committee, and of the Energy Advisory Committee of PNNL. In the past, he served as Chair of the Science Advisory Board of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and as Chair of the Advisory Council of the Electric Power Research Institute. He is a Fellow of the AAAS, the IEEE, and the Society for Risk Analysis. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College (1963), where he concentrated in physics, an M.S. in astronomy and space science from Cornell (1965), and a Ph.D. from the Department of Applied Physics and Information Sciences at the University of California at San Diego (1969).
Education
1968 Ph.D., Applied Physics and Information Science, University of California, San Diego
1965 MS, Astronomy and Space Science, Cornell University
1963 BA, Physics, Harvard College
Media mentions
The New York Times
Morgan quoted on Trump policy
EPP/ECE’s M. Granger Morgan was quoted in The New York Times on Trump’s relationship with science.
Forbes
Morgan on futurists in science and industry
EPP’s Granger Morgan was quoted by Forbes in an article analyzing the importance of including futurists to planning the world’s energy future. With the rapid changes every year in technology and the world, it is hard for researchers and industries to keep up, and some find it useful to step back, reflect, and consider predictions of the future.
USA Today
Morgan pens op-ed warning against proposed EPA rule change
Under the guise of strengthening transparency, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a rule change that would limit what scientific studies can be used to inform environmental regulation. Only studies using data that can be made completely public would be eligible, eliminating much of the public health literature that relies on personal medical data, which cannot be made public for privacy reasons. EPP’s Granger Morgan argues that the rule change would “dramatically loosen a large number of standards that over the past several decades have been making America’s air and water safer for all of us.”
CMU Engineering
DC can squeeze more power into existing transmission lines
Changing transmission lines from alternating to direct current has been long overlooked, but it may be the cheapest way to boost capacity on our over-taxed grid.
Vox
Morgan and Abdulla study on nuclear power quoted
A Vox article analyzing the debate over nuclear power and climate change referenced a study co-authored by EPP’s Granger Morgan and Ahmed Abdulla about nuclear energy. The article quotes the study to explain how the nuclear power industry is unable to compete in the energy market unless it is significantly subsidized through government policy.
Scott Institute
Eight faculty receive Scott Institute seed grants for energy research
The Scott Institute recently selected awardees from the College of Engineering for its seventh round of seed grants for energy research.
MIT Technology Review
Morgan cited about decreasing nuclear power industry
In an article about nuclear power’s reduced role in the decarbonization in the United States, MIT Technology Review cited a report by EPP’s M. Granger Morgan on the nuclear energy industry, which reported that it was highly unlikely nuclear power would play a role in decarbonization in the U.S.
Axios
EPP faculty weigh in on freight emissions
EPP’s Parth Vaishnav, M Granger Morgan, and Ines Azevedo researched how shipping freight with rail instead of road helps with decarbonization.
CMU Engineering
Is it cleaner to ship freight by rail and water?
Carnegie Mellon University researchers review the ways that goods can be transported via alternate means, such as by rail or water, to reduce both emissions and energy use.
WABE
Morgan discusses troubling future of nuclear
EPP’s Granger Morgan was quoted on WABE about his research into the dwindling number of operating and planned nuclear facilities in the U.S.
Bloomberg BNA and Politico
Morgan discusses the impact of fading nuclear power industry
EPP’s Granger Morgan was quoted in Bloomberg BNA and Politico about his research on the potential negative impact of a truncated nuclear power industry. This means the loss of nuclear power’s ability to cut carbon emissions from the electric power sector. “The way to decarbonize the energy system is with a portfolio of everything we’ve got,” said Morgan. “We find it very troubling that we’ve taken a big chunk of the portfolio that could be used to decarbonize the energy system—we’ve taken it off the table.”
CMU Engineering
The vanishing nuclear industry
Could nuclear power make a significant contribution to decarbonizing the U.S. energy system over the next three or four decades?