Arizona State University is launching a new global energy institute with the help of a $50 million gift from Robert L. Zorich.
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Arizona State University has received a $50 million gift from Robert L. Zorich to establish a new global energy institute. With the donation, ASU will launch the Global Institute for the Future of Energy, involving a collaboration between the university’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and its Thunderbird School of Global Management.
“Energy is central to nearly every facet of our daily lives, and we have to prepare now for an evolving energy future,” said ASU President Michael Crow, in the university’s news release. “With the rapid growth of AI and other fast-moving innovations, we have a responsibility to ready the next generation of energy leaders and solutions. Bob Zorich’s visionary investment will empower our global understanding of energy, our vital literacy and how we can work together to develop the best paths forward.”
The gift will be used to provide seed money for the new institute, create fellowships and scholarships for students, and endow a chair for the person who will serve as the institute’s director.
In addition, a portion of the gift will be made available to sponsor “Energy Switch,” a point-counterpoint show on Arizona PBS produced by Switch Energy Alliance. The show brings together experts from government, nongovernmental organizations, academia and industry with different perspectives on energy topics.
Plans also call for the institute to develop energy-related curricula for K–12, undergraduates, graduates, executives and the public. In its second year, the institute will launch a fellowship and executive-in-residence program, bringing together industry leaders for both research and teaching. It will also offer a series of public engagement programs, including a global energy conference, public lectures, online talks, hackathons and summer camps.
About Robert Zorich
Robert L. Zorich earned his BA in economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1971. In 1974, he received a master’s degree in international management from the American Graduate School of International Management (now Thunderbird).
Zorich is a managing partner and co-founder of EnCap Investments , the nations’s largest private equity firm focused solely on energy. A provider of billions in venture capital to the the U.S. energy industry, the company currently manages capital on behalf of more than 350 U.S. and international investors. Prior to EnCap, Zorich was as an energy banker, co-founded an oil and gas company in the 1980s, and had a two-year stint in institutional money management.
Zorich has been on the Board of Trustees of the UC Santa Barbara Foundation, the Thunderbird Global Alumni Network Advisory Council, the President’s Council of Houston Methodist Hospital, and the Council of the Duncan NRI at Texas Children’s Hospital. He has served as Chairman of the WorkFaith Connection and the Hope and Healing Center and Institute, and he’s been a board member of Memorial Assistance Ministries organization.
“ASU has long been a pioneer in building bold, pragmatic solutions for the future. With an enrollment exceeding 194,000 students annually across its in-person campuses and online, ASU continues to fulfill its charter,” said Zorich, who credited Crow with taking “a visionary and action-oriented approach to positioning the university as a leading center for research, educational excellence and global influence. For these reasons, I was excited to fund the formation of this energy institute at ASU because of the university’s unique ability to scale and reach a global audience.”
Zorich wants the new institute to focus on the practical aspects of energy, including its complexities, costs, technological advances, availability and the global importance of energy systems. “There’s a difference between affordable energy and aspirational energy. How do we gain energy abundance going into the future?” he said. “The institute will look at what makes sense, what’s cost-effective and what creates the best answer for the most people.”
