Aaron Mair

he/him/his

Aaron Mair is an epidemiological-spatial analyst, environmentalist, early Environmental Justice pioneer and leader, and 57th national president of the Sierra Club. As an advocate for environmental justice and activist in the Arbor Hill, NY community, he is responsible for the creation of the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center and the Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation. He lives in Schenectady, New York and works for the New York State Department of Health.

He is a graduate of Binghamton University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology and a certificate in Southwest Asia and North Africa Studies. He also earned a honorary Doctor of Humane Letters for his life’s work in pioneering diversity, equity, and inclusion work in the environmental movement from SUNY Binghamton. Aaron also trained at Rhode Island's Naval Education and Training Center and attended The American University in Cairo. He participated in Binghamton University's Political Science Doctoral Program, but left the program to begin State service in 1988.

In 1995, Aaron founded the Arbor Hill Environmental Justice Corporation, which was a member of the White House Council on Environmental Quality from 1998 to 2000. He also founded, served as board member, and lectured at the W. Haywood Burns Environmental Education Center in the Albany Capital region of New York. In 2000, he received an EPA Environmental Quality Award for cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the Hudson River. He also served as a board member at the New York League of Conservation Voters in 2000.

Aaron was elected president of the Sierra Club on May 16, 2015. He was that National organization's first African-American president. He has held many leadership positions with the Sierra Club at the local, regional and national levels, including as National Environmental Justice and Community Partnerships Chair, National Diversity Council, and Atlantic Chapter: Environmental Justice Chapter Chair.