Washington, D.C. —

Paul Newhagen, who has served on the boards of and contributed to a number of environmental and conservation groups, has decided to join the Earthjustice Board of Trustees after more than 30 years of support for Earthjustice.

Newhagen said he joined the board earlier this month because he believes deeply in the Earthjustice mission to use the power of the law to protect the environment.

"The public trust of clean air, water, human health, species, and the natural environment needs to be protected using the power of the law,” said Newhagen, adding, “I feel that Earthjustice is doing important work in this regard, and I want to support and help strengthen this effort.”

Newhagen is an outdoor enthusiast who has been a board member for the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the Northern Sierra Partnership. Also, he is an advisor to the Pacific Crest Trail Association.

Earthjustice President Trip Van Noppen expressed gratitude that Newhagen joined the board.

“Paul has been an incredible supporter of Earthjustice since the mid-1980s and he’s deeply committed to  our mission to protect health, our lands and wildlife, advance clean energy and combat climate change,” Van Noppen said. “I’m sure that he will help us do even more in this new endeavor as an Earthjustice board member.”

Newhagen was a co-founder and is a former chief financial officer of Altera Corporation, a semiconductor manufacturing company that was recently acquired by Intel Corporation. 

Newhagen started his career at Fairchild Semiconductor in Mountain View, California, where he worked initially in operations and marketing, then as division controller. In 1983, he helped co-found Altera Corporation where he held the position of CFO for the first 10 years, raised venture capital and helped take the company public on NASDAQ in 1988. He was a member of the Altera Board of Directors for 20 years and retired in 2007.  

As the nation’s largest nonprofit environmental law organization, Earthjustice takes on the large, most precedent-setting cases across the country, fighting for the right of all to a healthy environment while working to protect communities.

Founded in 1971 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, Earthjustice partners with thousands of groups, supporters, individuals and communities to take on the critical environmental issues of our time, and bring about positive change. Earthjustice has represented—without charge—well over 1,000 public interest clients. Earthjustice clients include community-based organizations, national environmental organizations, and public health groups. Earthjustice maintains 11 regional offices across the country, along with an international program and a policy and legislation team.