Adrian Parr

Adrian Elisheva Parr Zaretsky, PhD, is an internationally recognized environmental, political, and cultural thinker, philosopher, author, and filmmaker. She serves as Dean of the College of Design at the University of Oregon and is a Senior Fellow of DesignIntelligence (named 2020). She also serves as the UNESCO Chair on Water and Human Settlements. Prior to Oregon, she served as Dean of the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, and as Director of the Taft Research Center at the University of Cincinnati. She is a founding signatory of the Geneva Actions on Human Water Security and has produced award-winning documentaries including The Intimate Realities of Water. She curated exhibitions at the European Cultural Center's Venice Architecture Biennale (2021, 2023). Born in Sydney, Australia, she is the author of numerous books on climate change, environmental justice, and sustainability, including Hijacking Sustainability (MIT Press) and Birth of a New Earth (Columbia University Press).