Aaron Mair
The birth of Aaron Mair is celebrated on this date in 1961. He is a Black Scottish epidemiological-spatial analyst and environmental justice advocate.
He is involved in the environmental justice movement. From 2015 to 2017, Mair served as president of the Sierra Club. He was the organization's first Black president. Mair graduated from Binghamton University, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology and a certificate in Southwest Asia and North Africa Studies. Mair also trained at Rhode Island's Naval Education and Training Center and attended The American University in Cairo.
He participated in Binghamton University's Political Science Doctoral Program but left the program to begin State service in 1988. In 1995, Mair founded the Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation, a White House Council on Environmental Quality member from 1998 to 2000. He also founded, served as a board member, and lectured at the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center in the Albany Capital region of New York. In 1999, Mair was a member of Friends of Clean Hudson.
Mair has been a member of the Sierra Club since 1999. Since then, he has held many leadership positions with the Sierra Club: National Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Chair 2010–present; National Diversity Council 2008-2010. Atlantic Chapter: Environmental Justice 2003-2004; Chapter Chair 2002-2003. Hudson Mohawk Group: International Human Rights/Environment 2003–present; Environmental Justice 2002-2008; Water Quality/Habitats 2006-2011.
In 2000, Mair received an EPA Environmental Quality Award for cleaning polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the Hudson River. Mair also served as a board member at the New York League of Conservation Voters in 2000. He lives in Schenectady, New York, and works for the New York State Department of Health.
