2009 Young Alumna of the Year

Kristen Hite '00

Kristen was honored at the Homecoming Alumni Awards ceremony on Saturday, October 3.

Even before her graduation from Wofford in 2000, it was clear that Kristen Hite had extraordinary potential to become a leader in the emerging field of international sustainability and environmental protection. She was Wofford’s first Udall Scholar and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Blue Key. Taking advantage of a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship, she enrolled in a master’s program in environmental management in Ecuador, where she prepared a government-approved plan to secure legal protection of 3,000 acres of Amazon rainforest.

After co-founding the national non-profit SustainUS and serving as an international youth spokesperson during U.N. negotiations for sustainable development, Hite completed her J.D. degree at the Georgetown University Law Center. She served as an executive editor of the Georgetown International Environmental Law Review and continues to publish academic articles
in both English and Spanish.

She began her legal career at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in New Orleans only a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina. She has since practiced law with the Environmental Defense Fund and, most recently, with the Center for International Environmental Law. She is currently active in U.N. negotiations working toward a new global climate treaty. She also co-teaches an international environmental law class at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.