David Titley is a rare blend of two opposing personality types. He is a scientist and skilled navigator of Washington politics. That makes him one of the most interesting voices on climate change.

He is the founding director of the Center for Solutions for Weather and Climate Risk at Penn State University and a retired Rear Admiral with the U.S. Navy who worked many years in Washington—first at the Pentagon and then as chief operating officer for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Commerce Department. His PhD is in meteorology, and he has worked as an oceanographer and navigator for the Navy.

Titley is candid, pragmatic, and can be both funny and somber on the defining issue of our