Bruce M. Usher
Co-Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise; Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark T. Gallogly '86 Faculty Director; Professor of Professional Practice
The Tamer Center for Social Enterprise
BComm, Queens University, 1986; MBA, Harvard, 1992
Office:
316A
Uris
Phone:
212-854-7631
E-mail:
[email protected]
Personal Website
Curriculum Vitae
Biography
Bruce Usher is a Professor of Professional Practice and the Elizabeth B. Strickler '86 and Mark T. Gallogly '86 Faculty Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School. Professor Usher teaches on the intersection of finance, social and environmental issues, and is a recipient of the Singhvi Prize for Scholarship in the Classroom, the Lear Award, and the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence.
Professor Usher has written numerous cases for use in business school courses, with a primary focus on climate change and business. In 2019, Usher published Renewable Energy: A Primer for the Twenty-First Century (Columbia University Press), the first in the Earth Institute’s sustainability series of books.
Prior to his work at Columbia, Professor Usher was CEO of EcoSecurities Group plc, which developed greenhouse gas emission reduction projects in developing countries. EcoSecurities was acquired by JP Morgan in 2009. Professor Usher was previously the co-founder and CEO of TreasuryConnect LLC, which provided electronic trading solutions to banks and was acquired in 2001. Prior to that, he worked in financial services for twelve years in New York and Tokyo. Professor Usher is an active investor and advisor to entrepreneurial ventures focused on climate change and clean energy (UsherWorks.com). He is a board member of Community Energy, OptiRTC, and CapShift, and is Chair of the Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. Usher earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Teaching
Spring 2021
Impact Investing
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Fall 2020
Finance & Sustainability
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Bridging the American Divides
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Spring 2020
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Impact Investing
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Fall 2019
Bridging the American Divide
(MBA)
Finance & Sustainability
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Bridging the American Divide
(MBA)
Summer 2019
Spring 2019
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Impact Investing Seminar
(MBA)
Fall 2018
Finance & Sustainability
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Bridging the American Divide
(MBA)
Spring 2018
Impact Investing Seminar
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Fall 2017
Climate Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Bridging the American Divide
(MBA)
Finance & Sustainability
(MBA)
Spring 2017
Impact Investing Seminar
(MBA)
Carbon Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Fall 2016
Finance & Sustainability
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Carbon Finance
(MBA)
Spring 2016
Impact Investing Seminar
(MBA)
Carbon Finance
(MBA)
Investing in Social Ventures
(MBA)
Independent Study - 3 credits
(MBA)
Independent Study - 1.5 credits
(MBA)
Columbia Caseworks cases
ELP Greenport Solar
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Geoffrey Heal, Bruce Usher
Ørsted’s Offshore Wind Farms
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Geoffrey Heal, Bruce Usher
Water.org: Financial Innovation for Impact
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
MyAgro: Planting the Seeds of Opportunity
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
SunCulture: The Opportunity and Challenge of Investing in Kenya
(2019)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Shift Capital: Transforming the Kensington Neighborhood
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Kingo: Growth Opportunities in Off-Grid Renewable Energy
(2018)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
From Pioneer to Pariah: SunEdison, Inc., and the Global Solar Photovoltaics Industry
(2017)
Coauthor(s): Geoffrey M. Heal, Bruce Usher
Investing in Financial Inclusion & the Bottom of the Pyramid
(2017)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher, Sam Michelman
Architects of the Future? Tesla, Inc., Energy, Transportation, and the Climate
(2020)
Coauthor(s): Geoffrey Heal, Bruce Usher
Pattern Energy and the YieldCo Sector
(2016)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Stanford Dumps Coal
(2015)
Coauthor(s): Andrew Ang, Bruce Usher
EasyPay: An Alternative Loan for the Underbanked
(2014)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
E+Co: A View from the Boardroom
(2013)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Keystone Solar
(2013)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
The Jersey-Atlantic Wind Farm
(2012)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Research
Chapters
The Spectacular Growth of Solar PV Leasing
In Renewable Energy Finance: Powering the Future
(2015)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher, Albert Gore III
Web-only articles
Real Progress on Emissions Can Lead to a Global Pact
In NYTimes.com
(2014)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
The U.S. as a Climate Change Leader?
In Huffington Post
(2014)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Ideas and Insights
In The Media
Wind and Solar Producer Tops Exxon as Most Valuable U.S. Energy Company
The Tax Rule That Inspired Billionaires and Movie Stars to Back Climate Moonshots
Professor Bruce Usher on Books for Budding Social Entrepreneurs
The P.G. & E. Bankruptcy and the Coming Climate-Related Business Failures
PG&E: The First Climate-Change Bankruptcy, Probably Not the Last
Press Releases
Magazine articles
Savvy Risks, Sustainable Rewards
In Ideas at Work
(2014)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Newspaper articles
On Global Warming, Start Small
In The New York Times
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher
Red China, Green China
In The New York Times
(2010)
Coauthor(s): Bruce Usher