Robert Redford, Namesake of Pitzer College’s Sustainability Conservancy, Dies at 89

The Pitzer community mourns the loss of Oscar-winning actor-filmmaker and environmental activist Robert Redford, who passed away this week at the age of 89. Redford played an important role in supporting the College’s environmental sustainability goals and initiatives.

“Robert Redford’s impact is deeply embedded in the work of the Robert Redford Conservancy at Pitzer College,” said Pitzer President Strom C. Thacker. “By linking environmental responsibility with experiential learning, his legacy strengthens our college’s mission to engage students in shaping a more sustainable and equitable world."

Though Redford has appeared on big screens worldwide as an actor (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and The Way We Were) and a director (Ordinary People), what shines as an equally bright legacy is his environmental advocacy work for the planet. Redford served as a special adviser to Pitzer College on environmental matters. The College’s hub of environmental research, the Robert Redford Conservancy for Southern California Sustainability, was named in his honor when it was established in 2012.

"What really resonates with us about Robert Redford's life was his ability, dedication, and passion for telling stories to amplify environmental causes," said Susan Phillips, director of the Robert Redford Conservancy at Pitzer College. "That is something we try to emulate and do all the time as we go about our work at the Conservancy. It's so important to raise and uplift the issues and voices of those who aren't getting heard. That's something he did, and it's front of mind in everything we do."

Devoted to socio-ecological justice and sustainability, the Robert Redford Conservancy gives students hands-on opportunities to conduct research and engage communities about environmental issues affecting Southern California. In Pitzer’s press release announcing the establishing of the Conservancy, Redford shared his excitement to partner with what he called “an educational institution firmly planted in the 21st Century.”

“We hope that this Conservancy will become a place of collaboration with the best thinkers and best dreamers to take on the sustainability opportunities and challenges embodied in the Southern California region, and apply them here and beyond,” said Redford. “I’m most excited about how inspired this place will be by the ‘nothing’s impossible’ drive of the Pitzer students who will study and discover here.”

In 2014, Redford also participated in the College’s announcement of a breakthrough fossil fuel divestment-climate action plan. Pitzer became California’s first private college or university to divest from fossil fuel stocks.

“I grew up in Los Angeles at a time when Los Angeles was really a beautiful city,” said Redford at the press conference announcing the divestment. “And then, it felt like it was disintegrating below my feet. And suddenly, the green spaces were shrinking in favor of concrete and freeways. I thought, well, there’s nothing more I can do about the city I love that has squandered its assets. Until this came along with Pitzer College.”

Redford continued his advocacy for the environment, the arts, and other causes throughout his life. In 2016 President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant endeavors.

Read about Redford’s life, including his role at Pitzer College, in Los Angeles Times.

Hear Redford’s thoughts about “What Will the Conservancy Be 50 Years From Now?”

Hear Redford’s remarks at Pitzer College’s Divestment Announcement.

Learn more about the Robert Redford Conservancy.