UCSD appointed solar pioneer Byron Washom as director of strategic energy initiatives on Oct. 7 amid an ongoing effort to maintain its reputation as one of the nation’s greenest universities.

In 1984, Washom led his entrepreneurial firm, Advanco Corp., in setting a world record for solar electric conversion efficiency at 29.4 percent. The record remained for 24 years until Sandia National Laboratories broke it earlier this year.

Washom has served as a strategic advisor for clean energy technologies at the World Bank, International Energy Agency, U.S. Department of Energy and national laboratories. He is a four-time Rockefeller Foundation grantee and Heinz Foundation grantee, and Chancellor Marye Anne Fox awarded him the 2008 Community Leader Award for Sustainability earlier this year.

“We are delighted that Byron Washom has joined the UC San Diego leadership team to help implement a cutting-edge vision and shared aspirations for quantum advancements in sustainability,” Fox said.

UCSD’s future energy projects include the development of energy storage systems, renewable energy purchases from the grid during surplus periods and co-production of hydrogen from its fuel cell system.

“In my entire career and global travels, I have never witnessed such a combination of visionary leadership, opportunity and legacy infrastructure to build a global model of a sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure as we have here at UC San Diego,” Washom said.