In the half-century since his graduation, Theodore Roosevelt IV (MBA 1972) has earned widespread respect as both a forward-thinking investment banker and an influential activist through his efforts to address climate change and preserve public lands. For much of that time, there was little official overlap between those two pursuits. But over the last 15 years, Roosevelt, now a managing director at Barclays, says he has seen “a remarkable convergence” of his career as an investment banker and his deeply held passion—inherited from his great-grandfather—for protecting the environment.

Growing up on a 1,200-acre dairy farm in rural Pennsylvania, with ponds and pastures to explore and frogs and turtles to play with, Roosevelt learned early on that “outdoors is the most interesting place to be.” At Harvard College, he majored in American history, joined the ROTC at his father’s request, and rowed lightweight crew. His worldview broadened during two years of military service as an officer with the Navy SEALs in Vietnam and a subsequent US State Department posting in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso).

Roosevelt’s State Department responsibilities included disbursal of funds for local improvement projects. He attended HBS to gain background for broader responsibilities at the State Department but switched gears when he learned more about the important role of investment bankers in allocating funds to worthy economic projects across the globe.

At Lehman Brothers, and subsequently at Barclays, Roosevelt has held key positions in domestic and international finance, financial and derivative products, and government-advisory initiatives. By the mid-2000s, as awareness of global warming broadened in the business world, his knowledge of climate-change science and board service at organizations such as the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, the Wilderness Society, and the American Museum of Natural History, increasingly became an asset in his banking career. In 2007, Roosevelt was tapped to chair the Council on Climate Change at Lehman, one of 10 major companies that pressed President George W. Bush on the urgency of addressing global warming. Since 2015, he has chaired the Clean Tech Initiative at Barclays, a firm that embraces Paris Climate Agreement goals and has committed substantial resources to global investments in business opportunities that enable the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Roosevelt’s dual career interests offer a singular perspective on the evolving relationship between business and the environment. “For years,” he explains, “environmentalists had to push from the bottom up the idea that business has a major responsibility to address climate change. We’re now at a point when corporations and bankers recognize the advantages of sustainable investments and understand the importance of well-thought-out climate policies. Change is coming from the top down. Let’s hope it’s not too late.”

Use your words: “Environmentalists and political and business leaders with economic stakes in carbon-based energy need to get better at listening and talking to each other. Respectful dialogue is the only way to identify common interests.”

The real cost: “To reach global net zero on carbon by 2050, the United States needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions dramatically by 2030. The fastest route is to put a tax on carbon, which should be done immediately.”

Nuclear option: “Next-generation technologies that use molten salt, molten lead, or gases as coolants show promise as safer, more economical replacements to light-water reactors. Informed investors with deep pockets are starting to invest in that field.”

Faithful elephant: A moderate Republican and activist in the League of Conservation Voters and in nonpartisan anticorruption efforts, Roosevelt says, “My party has lost its way, but I remain a Republican. It entitles me to be critical when Republicans are wrong.”

On his service in Vietnam: “When you’re in combat, you believe in your cause. But back home, I came to terms with the reality that the United States entered a civil war to bring about regime change, and the results were disastrous. As a nation, we keep forgetting that lesson.”

Invest locally: “My State Department job in Africa taught me that small investments informed by local knowledge are more effective than big projects launched in Washington.”

Favorite book: William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! “It captures the corrosion that is passed down from generation to generation because of slavery.”

Trout time: “Slough Creek in Yellowstone National Park is one of my favorite places to fish, but there’s also great off-the-beaten-track fishing everywhere in Montana.”

Wild memory: “Waking up at 1 a.m. in my tent at the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to witness the beautiful, haunting spectacle of thousands of cow caribou and their calves passing by on their eastern migration back to Canada.”

Namesakes: “My son is Theodore Roosevelt V, but his son’s name is Theodore Nicholas Roosevelt. He prefers to be called Teddy, but I call him Nico.”

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