Stanford Profile: Colin Ong

Profile

Bio-Brief

Dr. Ong semi-retired in 2022 as Consulting Associate Professor/Adjunct Professor at Stanford University where he was principally the Executive Director of the Stanford Environmental & Water Studies Summer Program (SEWSS) and Assistant Director of the Center for Sustainable Development & Global Competitiveness (CSDGC). He currently continues as Founder/Director of the Youth Creativity, Innovation and Sustainable Leadership (YCISL) Program of the CSDGC. Dr. Ong received his BS degree in Chemistry (1985), MS degree in Water Science (1990), and PhD degree in Agricultural & Environmental Chemistry (1992) from the University of California, Davis. In 1990, he was awarded the Joseph G. Prosser Fellowship by the University of California Water Resources Center with which he conducted field and laboratory research into trace element occlusion by evaporites in hypersaline agricultural evaporation ponds. He came to Stanford in 1992 as a postdoctoral scholar to investigate the adsorption of uranyl ions onto mineral surfaces through laboratory experiments and chemical modeling. From 2000 to 2002, he was on the Worldwide Support Specialists team in the Customer Relations and Operations group at Handspring, the leading innovator in handheld devices, where he helped develop and sustain the Handspring Visor and Treo product lines. In 2003, he returned to Stanford to lead the in-residence and distance learning components of the Singapore Stanford Partnership (SSP) program as Technical Program Manager then Executive Director. In 2011, he designed and launched the Youth Creativity, Innovation & Sustainable Leadership (YCISL) program focused on youth-oriented life lessons in emotional intelligence workshops. Dr. Ong has taught graduate courses on Hydrogeochemical Modeling, Environmental Toxicants, and Environmental Informatics in the Stanford EES program.

Current Appointments (semi-retired)

Consulting Associate Professor/Adjunct Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (retired)
Executive Director, Stanford Environmental & Water Studies Summer Program (retired)
Founder and Director, Center for Sustainable Development & Global Competitiveness Youth Creativity, Innovation & Sustainable Leadership Program (active)
Assistant Director, Center for Sustainable Development & Global Competitiveness (retired)

Specialty Areas

Youth Creative Energy & Mindset
Aqueous Solid-Solution Chemistry Modeling
Environmental Toxicology & Reactivity
Usability & Interactive Design

Favorite Reads

Project Management by Gary R. Heerkens
Writing a Compelling Executive Summary by Garage Technology Ventures
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
What I Wish I Knew When I Was 20 by Tina Seelig
Tuesdays with Morrie by MItch Albom
Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
Inside Macintosh Volumes I, II and III
Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
Learning by Heart by Corita Kent and Jan Steward