Earthrise Accord 

In 1968, Apollo VIII astronaut William Anders captured the most well-known photograph of all time: "Earthrise." This powerful image made our planet's isolation, finitude, and fragility undeniable.  Earthrise became an icon of the then-burgeoning environmental movement. 

 

Anders was deeply moved by what he saw and captured as he circled the moon.  He was an environmentalist who spent his honeymoon in Yosemite Valley with Valerie Anders who would be his wife for the next fifty-nine years. Bill and Valerie would later become major donors to Yosemite National Institutes (YNI) where Valerie spent many years on the board. 

 

Prior to Apollo VIII, Bill Anders graduated from the Air Force Institute of Technology as a nuclear engineer.  After Apollo VIII, Bill's career trajectory saw him serving as the first chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where he was instrumental in shaping policies that governed the safe use of nuclear energy.

 

Following his work on the new NRC, Bill furthered his impact on the field of nuclear technology as the director of the nuclear division at General Electric, guiding efforts to harness nuclear power in more efficient and environmentally responsible ways.  He would later be instrumental to the U.S.'s development of nuclear submarines as the CEO of General Dynamics, the parent company of Electric Boat.​

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Bill believed his environmentalism and passion for the advancement of nuclear energy were harmonious since he believed this clean and abundant energy source would be an essential component of any sustainable energy policy. 

 

Bill Anders died in the summer of 2024.  He left Valerie the resources to establish the Earth Rise Foundation in honor of his passion for preserving the environment and his lifelong commitment to exploring clean energy frontiers in order to preserve the fragile and finite home planet he captured so memorably in "Earthrise."​