The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation today announced the creation of a senior fellow role and the appointment of Guillermo Castilleja, Ph.D. In this role, Castilleja will serve as a special advisor to the president of the $6.5 billion private foundation.

The senior fellow role will enhance the internal analytic capacity and external relations of the foundation. As an advisor to the foundation president, Castilleja will provide foresight and judgment to aid in identifying future directions for the foundation, help us remain at the forefront of philanthropy, and elevate our achievements.

“The foundation has benefited greatly from Guillermo Castilleja’s knowledge of environmental conservation and philanthropy,” said Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D., president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. “As the inaugural senior fellow, Castilleja will continue to inform our conservation work and will also inform other strategic endeavors, including long-term planning.”

For more than six years, Castilleja has served as the chief program officer for environmental conservation at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. Prior to joining the foundation, Castilleja served as executive director for conservation at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) leading the identification of global priorities for the WWF network. He also worked with the National Wildlife Federation and World Bank. Castilleja graduated from the National University of Mexico and received a Master’s degree in Forestry, a Master’s degree in Philosophy and a doctorate in Forest Ecology from Yale University.

He currently chairs the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and serves on The Economics and Ecosystems of Biodiversity Advisory Board and the boards of the Climate and Land Use Alliance and the Fondo Mexicano Para La Conservación De La Naturaleza, A.C./Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature, A.C.

“Gordon and Betty Moore have set an inspiring course and working at their foundation is a tremendous opportunity,” said Castilleja. “It has been an honor to lead the Environmental Conservation Program and I look forward to taking on this new challenge.”

In taking up this role, Castilleja will relinquish his administrative responsibilities as chief program officer. The foundation announced today that Aileen Lee will succeed Castilleja in that position. The full transition for these changes will occur upon completion of the search to replace Lee as program director for the foundation’s conservation and markets initiatives.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit www.moore.org or follow @MooreFound.