Leslie Dewan
Dr. Leslie Dewan is a nuclear engineer and innovator who champions clean energy solutions and the bold technologies shaping a more sustainable future.
Nuclear Engineer
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Queen of Possibility
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Clean Energy Visionary
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Nuclear Engineer • Queen of Possibility • Clean Energy Visionary •
More about Leslie
The next generation of nuclear power is coming, as concerns about climate change bring the industry out of hibernation. One of the figures at the forefront of this revolution is Nuclear Engineer and environmentalist Leslie Dewan, who spent the first ten years of her career redesigning nuclear reactors to make them safer and reduce the amount of waste they produce. Together with a classmate from MIT, she created and served as CEO for Transatomic Power, reimagining a 1960s design for a molten salt reactor.
This World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and her team raised millions from VC firms, successfully lobbied for updated nuclear policy, and made an astonishing run at the design before realizing they wouldn’t be first to market, so they pivoted. Rather than hoarding the data, Leslie and her partner did something truly revolutionary: they open-sourced it for the world’s benefit. As Leslie says, “I became a nuclear engineer because I wanted to save the world.”
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Leslie earned a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering with a research focus on computational nuclear materials from MIT, where she also earned S.B. degrees in mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering. She has served on the MIT Corporation, MIT’s board of trustees, and on the National Academy of Engineering’s study, “Laying the Foundation for New and Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the United States.” Leslie has been named a TIME Magazine "30 People Under 30 Changing the World," an MIT Technology Review "Innovator Under 35," and a National Geographic Explorer.
Speaking Topics
Reinvention
Resilience
Managing Change
Navigating the Future
Conservation
Science
Innovation
Watch Leslie in action
Presentations
Save the World with Nuclear Power
As global electricity demand surges, the world needs clean energy that truly scales. Nuclear power holds promise—but only if its biggest challenges can be solved. In this forward-looking talk, Dr. Leslie Dewan introduces a new generation of advanced nuclear reactors designed to be safer, cheaper, and cleaner, and explains how rethinking nuclear energy could help power a more sustainable future for Earth.
"As an environmentalist, I believe nuclear power is one of our best hopes for a livable future."
– Leslie Dewan