David C. Major received the Ph.D. in Economics from Harvard University. He has been a faculty member at MIT and at Clark University, a long-time Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University (now retired), and a visiting scholar at the Universities of Cambridge, England and Roorkee, India. Most recently he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Helsinki, Finland. His principal scientific research focus is the adaptation of coastal cities and towns, large and small, to climate change. Dr. Major is the author, co-author or co-editor of seventeen books on water resources, climate change, history and literature.