Sarah E. Light
University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School
“Professor Light is an extraordinary teacher, scholar, and leader, who has displayed an exceptional commitment to undergraduates. She is widely recognized as one of the finest instructors in the school. In addition, she is the co-director of the Wharton Climate Lab and is instrumental in Wharton’s new ESG concentration. She has been a major driver of environment and climate-related initiatives at Penn/Wharton. As a scholar, she is among the world’s leading experts in environmental law and policy, especially noted for her pioneering work in private environmental governance. She came to academia after a distinguished career as the chief of the Environmental Protection Unit in the US Attorney’s Office in New York, and earlier a Rhodes Scholarship, and has excelled in every dimension as a professor at Wharton.” – Kevin Werbach, Chair of Legal Studies and Business Ethics
Sarah E. Light, 50, is the Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professor and Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics at University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School.
Light teaches courses related to Environmental Management: Law and Policy; Business, Social Responsibility, and the Environment; and Climate and Environmental Leadership in Action; among others. Light serves as co-faculty director of the Wharton Climate Center, as well as advisor to both the undergraduate concentration and MBA major in Business, Energy, Environment, and Sustainability.
Her research examines issues at the intersection of environmental law, corporate sustainability, and business innovation. Her articles have appeared in the Stanford Law Review, the Columbia Law Review, the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, and Organization and Environment, among others. Professor Light has received numerous teaching awards for MBA and undergraduate teaching.
Prior to joining the Wharton faculty, Professor Light served for ten years as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, including four years as Chief of the Environmental Protection Unit.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2013
Education: JD, Yale Law School; MPhil in Politics, Oxford University; AB, Harvard College
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Environmental Management: Law and Policy, Climate and Environmental Leadership in Action
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I came to Wharton to give my job talk. It was the only business school I applied to (I expected to spend my career teaching at a law school). The discussions were so engaging and lively, and the faculty in the Legal Studies & Business Ethics Department at Wharton come from so many different disciplines, including law, philosophy, economics, sociology, political science, history, and psychology. It opened my eyes to the possibility of having an even greater impact than I could have imagined in my teaching and scholarship.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I have recently written several articles about greenwashing and corporate climate-related disclosures. My next project will focus on disclosures related to biodiversity and ecosystems, including how we should think about protecting biodiversity and how firms can play a more active role in that space.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … A professional folk singer.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Enthusiasm.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Thrilling.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: How interdisciplinary business schools are.
Professor I most admire and why: My dad, who has been a professor of statistics for over 50 years and is close to retirement. He is the most enthusiastic and engaged teacher.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? I love teaching both the undergrads and the MBA students who are at really different places in life. The undergrads bring a real love of learning and curiosity to the classroom—and so many great insights and questions during our discussions.
What is most challenging? Having not gone to business school myself, I have less of a sense of what they learn in some of their other courses.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Engaged.
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Indifferent.
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … Reasonable.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? I spend time with friends, take our dog for long hikes in the woods, read, knit, and play a few instruments.
How will you spend your summer? With my family – a mix of downtime and some travel.
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Ocean City, NJ for the boogie boarding with the family and Cape Cod, MA for the relaxation.
Favorite book(s): Recently, I finished reading Wool by Hugh Howey, which is a future dystopian story about a world in which people are living underground in silos, and several characters begin to piece together how they got there.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I would say that a recent favorite is The Good Place. I actually think the writers do an amazingly good job of capturing some of the most important ethical challenges that individuals face, so as a professor working in a Legal Studies & Business Ethics Department, I found it not only funny but also really insightful.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I love folk and acoustic music – as a child I learned to play both the banjo and the guitar, and so that genre really resonates with me.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this … Experiential learning in non-traditional classrooms. In my course, Climate and Environmental Leadership in Action, I partner with Wharton’s McNulty Leadership Ventures team to combine classroom learning and papers with a weeklong venture in the woods. For the past two years, we have taken a group of undergraduates on a 40-plus mile long bike ride with hiking and paddling along a river as well. Each student gets the opportunity to work in a small team, to be a “leader of the day,” to share feedback with teammates and to lead a discussion on a topic related to ethics and the environment. The students (and I) have found this to be a pretty transformative experience, and I wish that more students had this opportunity.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … Fostering a balance between work and life by setting clear expectations.
I’m grateful for … My family.
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