About Michael McCloskey
McCloskey was born in Eugene on April 26, 1934. After graduating from Harvard University, McCloskey attended law school at the University of Oregon. Upon earning his degree in 1961, he was hired as the first field organizer for the Sierra Club, a California-based outdoor club with twenty-five employees.
As executive director of the Sierra Club from 1969 to 1985, he built Sierra Club membership from 70,000 to over half a million. He led what became one of the most influential environmental organizations in the world.
Now retired as chair of the Sierra Club, McCloskey remains active on behalf of national environmental issues. Until February 2010, he was a trustee of the Sierra Club Foundation, and for several years he was president of the Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs. He is a member of the World Commission on Protected Areas and of the Commission on Environmental Law of the World Conservation Union. McCloskey received the John Muir Award of the Sierra Club (1979), the Fred Packard Award of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (2003), and the Conservation Award of the Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs (2004).