33 Facts About Laban Coblentz

Laban L Coblentz was born on July 21,1961 and is an American writer, educator, science policy adviser, international civil servant, and entrepreneur.

Laban Coblentz is an avid proponent of the use of advanced technology for sustainable development.

Since 2015, Coblentz has served as the Head of Communication of ITER, the international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject and the largest scientific cooperation in history.

Laban Coblentz was raised in a pacifistic and insular Amish Mennonite community in Hartville, Ohio.

At Malone, Laban Coblentz took up journalism and fiction, becoming the editor of the campus newspaper and the literary magazine.

Shortly after leaving Malone, Laban Coblentz enlisted in the United States Navy, a decision that led to excommunication from his Amish Mennonite congregation.

Laban Coblentz's research was heavily influenced by his conversations with the inventor and philosopher Arthur M Young at the Institute for the Study of Consciousness in Berkeley; ideas on gender and ethnicity put forward by Kim F Hall, with whom Coblentz studied at Georgetown University; and studies of modernist and postmodernist literary criticism with Professor Geoffrey Green at SFSU.

Laban Coblentz's thesis explored parallels between the thought systems underlying subatomic physics and the postmodernist use of symbol.

Laban Coblentz argues that the Einstein-Bohr debates and the Copenhagen Interpretation were rooted in epistemology, not strictly physics or mathematics, and thus ultimately led to a search for new forms of language and expression.

Laban Coblentz was asked to develop a specialized communications course for nuclear inspectors, and eventually headed a nationwide overhaul of the nuclear inspection reporting system.

Laban Coblentz later became Jackson's adviser on the NRC's international programs, offering bilateral assistance to developing countries in the formulation of legal and regulatory frameworks, the installation of nuclear medical facilities, and safety and security at nuclear power plants.

Laban Coblentz worked with the regulators and operators of post-Soviet states to upgrade inspection and enforcement programs and associated communication protocols.

Shortly after Jackson completed her term as NRC Chairman, Laban Coblentz was awarded a fellowship with the American Political Science Association.

Laban Coblentz designed and spearheaded the project with Kevin Landy, Lieberman's counsel on the Committee, negotiating with Senate rules officials to gain permission for this first-of-kind approach to use the Internet to engage citizens in online interaction, enabling direct public input in planning the electronic government legislation.

Laban Coblentz has frequently drawn attention to the degree to which non-technological factors, ranging from cultural nuance to geopolitics, have contributed to nuclear crises.

Laban Coblentz collaborated with ElBaradei on The Age of Deception: Nuclear Diplomacy in Treacherous Times, a behind-the-scenes account of some of these crises, published by Henry Holt in 2011.

Laban Coblentz has described working with ElBaradei on the Nobel speech:.

Laban Coblentz has appeared as an IAEA nuclear safety expert in The Nuclear Option, a documentary film focused on the capacity of nuclear power as a source of sustainable, non-greenhouse gas emitting energy.

In late 2007, Laban Coblentz left the IAEA to work with Jackson again as Chief of Staff and Associate Vice President of Policy and Planning at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a research university in upstate New York where Jackson was the university president.

Under Jackson, Laban Coblentz led the launch of RPI's $220 million Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center.

Laban Coblentz developed a close professional relationship with Johannes Goebel, the Director of EMPAC, whose unique expertise at the nexus of science, technology, and the arts was embodied in the EMPAC academic mission as well as in its physical design.

Jackson asked Laban Coblentz to oversee a trio of RPI operations focused on intellectual property protection and technology transfer: the Rensselaer Incubator, the Office of Technology Commercialization, and the 1250-acre Rensselaer Technology Park.

Laban Coblentz created the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Council to bring coherence to university wide tech transfer operations, and revamped the RPI incubation approach, launching the Emerging Ventures Ecosystem in February 2011.

Laban Coblentz left RPI in September 2011 without public explanation, leading to speculation on the reasons for his departure.

On leaving RPI, Laban Coblentz began working on a number of start-up ventures.

In 2012, Laban Coblentz founded the Tech Valley Center of Gravity, a New York not-for-profit focused explicitly on the retention and growth of post-university professionals in New York's Capital District.

Laban Coblentz continued to work closely with his former boss, Mohamed ElBaradei, during his time at RPI.

Laban Coblentz noted that ElBaradei had first confronted Mubarak in early 2003, during the lead-up to the Iraq War, as well as on subsequent encounters.

In September 2015, Laban Coblentz took a new position as head of communication at ITER, the full-scale nuclear fusion facility in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France.

Laban Coblentz was hired by the new ITER Director-General, Bernard Bigot, as part of a senior management team brought in to get the project back on track.

Laban Coblentz sees ITER as not just a step on the path to clean energy, but a key source of energy for coping with the effects of climate change.

Laban Coblentz participated in the making of the 2017 documentary about fusion energy and the ITER project, Let There Be Light.

Laban Coblentz has continued to write plays, including Charades and The Oedipus Experiment.