Nicholas Institute Board of Advisors

Patrick F. Noonan
Patrick F. Noonan is founder and Chairman Emeritus of The Conservation Fund, a NGO dedicated to conserving America’s natural and historic heritage. Working with public and private partners, the Fund has protected more that 5.5 million acres of America’s special places since its founding in 1985. The Conservation Fund has been a leader in land conservation in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, conserving over 250,000 acres in the past two decades.

A former president of The Nature Conservancy (1973–1980), Noonan is a founder of the American Farmland Trust (1980), and currently serves on its President’s Council. He is a trustee of the National Geographic Society and vice chairman of the National Geographic Education Foundation. In addition to his conservation activities, Noonan served on the board of International Paper. He presently serves on the boards of Ashland and Saul Centers and he is a Trustee Emeritus of Gettysburg College. Noonan, who holds an MBA and a master’s in City and Regional Planning, has received numerous awards, including receiving a five-year “genius” fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 1985 for his pioneering work in fostering partnerships between business and the environmental community. He has served on three Presidential Commissions—the President’s Commission on Americans Outdoors (1985–1987), the President’s Commission on Environmental Quality (1991–1993), and the President’s Commission on White House Fellows (current). Recently, the National Audubon Society recognized him as 1 of 100 conservation leaders whose lives and work shaped the growth of the American conservation movement in the 20th century.