The founder and chief scientist of Brilliant Planet, Raffael Jovine, is the second husband of Columbia University President Nemat Minouche Shafik, who married in 2002.
Nemat Minouche Shafik is also not Raffael Jovine’s first wife, as he has married before, but details on his first wife are not available.
Meanwhile, the couple resides with their family in New York City and sometimes in London. Minouche continues to thrive through her presidency while Raffael manages his company, unlocking the power of algae for carbon fixing.
Although the husband and wife belong to different fields, Nemat Minouche Shafik mentioned in an interview that they are complementary and extremely supportive of each other’s interests.
Minouche Shafik’s husband, Raffael Jovine, is a molecular biologist!
Raffael Jovine is a molecular biologist, author, and entrepreneur born in Munich, Germany. The exact birthdate of the author is unavailable, but according to sources, he was born in 1963 and is 60 years old as of 2024.
In 1986, he graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. In 1995, he received his PhD in Marine Biology from UC Santa Barbara.
Afterward, Raffael ventured into various managerial and presidential positions before founding his company, Brilliant Planet, in 2013.
This week on @SustainableMind I have a great conversation with Dr. Raffael Jovine, founder and chief scientist of @BrillPlanet , a company that uses seawater, sunlight, and wind to grow food in coastal deserts, replicating #algal blooms. https://t.co/M0Z1q1GN7w pic.twitter.com/dS3YZnOyKI
— A Sustainable Mind (@SustainableMind) July 26, 2022
Raffael’s career and educational background are open to the public and easily accessed from his LinkedIn profile, but his family’s details are absent.
Raffael never talked about his parents and upbringing, so whether he has siblings and when he migrated to the United States remains unclear until the entrepreneur talks about himself.
On the other hand, his wife, Minouche Shafik, talks about spending time with her husband, Raffael Jovine, and their five children, also available on her Wikipedia.
Raffael had three children from his previous marriage: two daughters and a son who might probably be in their 30s.
Later, after marrying Minouche in 2002 in Washington, they gave birth to twins, a daughter and a son, in their early 20s.
Had a lovely time at Chief Scientist/Co-Founder of @BrillPlanet Raffael Jovine's book party tonight, celebrating the publication of his timely and fascinating book How Light Makes Life in conversation with @AlbertWenger at @USV #climate #tech #carboncapture pic.twitter.com/q2jaU8MYHP
— Rimjhim Dey (@rimdey) September 7, 2022
Only the name of the oldest daughter, Olivia Jovine, is revealed. She is a Columbia School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation graduate.
Meanwhile, according to Minouche, four children are in the US, but the exact details on their locations and family ties are missing.
Additional Information
- Raffael Jovine has never talked about his first wife, so her name is unknown.
- He does not have an Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook account.
- Raffael has authored two books: How Light Makes Life: The Hidden Wonders and World-Saving Powers of Photosynthesis and Light to Life: The Miracle of Photosynthesis and How It Can Save the Planet.
