Dan Vermeer

Dan Vermeer

Executive Director

Daniel Vermeer directs Duke University's Center for Energy, Development, and the Global Environment (EDGE), a dynamic initiative focused on accelerating progress toward a sustainable energy system that can meet the global demand for energy, resources, and improved quality of life. Through research, outreach, and education, EDGE identifies the most promising pathways toward this goal, works with leading firms to drive innovations across their value chains, and helps seed partnerships that can facilitate these transformations.

In this role, Dr. Vermeer teaches graduate classes at Fuqua School of Business and Nicholas School of the Environment, directs research projects, and consults with leading companies and organizations including Bank of America, UN Global Compact, and the Sustainability Consortium.  In addition to his Center responsibilities, Vermeer is a lead partner in Duke's Corporate Sustainability Initiative and is a widely-recognized speaker to executive and public audiences. 

Dr. Vermeer joined Duke from The Coca-Cola Company, where he led the Global Water Initiative, an industry-leading effort to formulate and implement a comprehensive approach to protecting the quality and availability of the company's primary ingredient. As part of his water-related work, he founded Coca-Cola's Community Water Partnerships program, resulting in 125 public-private water sustainability projects in 50 countries, and designed a "gold standard" Environmental Assessment Methodology for identifying risks across Coca-Cola's global manufacturing facilities. During his tenure at Coca-Cola, he also led the Sustainable Value Chain project, an enterprise-wide challenge to integrate sustainability across Coca-Cola's core business functions.

Dr. Vermeer plays a leading public role in advocating for business sustainability through speaking, research, and institution-building. He is the founder and chief architect of the Global Water Challenge, a multi-partner organization for innovative water and sanitation initiatives, co-author of the CEO Water Mandate (signed by more than 50 Fortune 500 companies), and lead contributor to several policy documents issued through the World Economic Forum, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, and the United Nations Foundation. He holds a Masters degree from the University of Virginia and Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

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