Adela J. Gondek

Sen. Adela J. Gondek teaches modern practical ethics, including environmental, sustainability and public ethics, in the MA in Climate and Society program, the MS in Sustainability Management program and the Sustainable Development undergraduate program. She acquired her PhD in the Government Department at Harvard, with cross-disciplinary study in the law and divinity schools and the Kennedy School of Government. She has served as a legislative analyst in the Massachusetts State Senate, with investigative specialization in consumer product safety, prison reform and model judicial practice. At Columbia, she taught in the Political Science Department prior to teaching ethics. She has co-authored a book (2015) with the poets, Jingtian Guo and Rongxiang Jia, titled, Poems of Enlightenment, published in Beijing. Among other articles, she wrote, The Case of Antarctica (SAIS Review, Volume 39, Issue 1, 2019); and Ethics at the Intersection of Economic Development, High Finance, and Mortal Pandemic (SIPA, Picker Center Lecture Series, 2020). She also wrote a chapter titled, The City Meets Practical Ethics, published in the book, Urban Sustainable Development, coinciding with the Rio G20 (2024). Dr. Gondek has recently been made a member of the Women’s International Forum (WIF), which works in partnership with the United Nations.