{{short description|American businessman, academic, and author (born 1981)}} {{Infobox person |name = Levi Tillemann |image = |birth_name=Levi Mills Tillemann-Dick |birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|36|2018|5|23}}<ref>[https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/23/jason-crow-levi-tillemann-democratic-primary/ A secret recording, a Bronze Star and “The Royal Tenenbaums”]. The Denver Post. 23 May 2018.</ref> |birth_place = Denver, Colorado, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |education = Regis University<br>Yale University (BA)<br>Johns Hopkins University (MA, PhD) |occupation = Author, businessman |employer = New America Foundation }} '''Levi Mills Tillemann-Dick''' (born November 25, 1981) is an American businessman, academic, and author. Currently managing partner at Valence Strategic, LLC and a fellow at the New America Foundation, he is also the author of the 2015 book, ''The Great Race: The Global Quest For The Car Of The Future'' (Simon and Schuster). Levi was also the lead author of the report Revolution Now, which he published while working in President Barack Obama's Department of Energy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Revolution Now: The Future Arrives for Four Clean Energy Technologies |date=September 17, 2013 |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |url=https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2013/09/f2/200130917-revolution-now.pdf}}</ref> He was an unsuccessful candidate in the Democratic primary in the 2018 election in {{ushr|CO|6}}.<ref name="Campaign website">{{cite web |title=Levi for Colorado |url=https://www.leviforcolorado.com/ |access-date=2017-05-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801203248/https://www.leviforcolorado.com/ |archive-date=2017-08-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Brian Eason |date=June 28, 2017 |title=Levi Tillemann, Obama administration alum, set to join crowded race to unseat Mike Coffman |newspaper=The Denver Post |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/28/obama-administration-levi-tillemann-race-unseat-mike-coffman/}} </ref>
==Early life and education== Tillemann's father, Timber Dick, was a businessman, inventor, and administrator at the University of Denver's School of Engineering and Computer Sciences. Timber, who was the son of Colorado's first female lieutenant governor, Nancy E. Dick, died from burn wounds following a 2008 automobile accident.<ref name=westword/><ref name=accident/> Levi, with his brothers Corban and Tomicah, accepted the NASA "Create the Future" award for their work with their father on an ultra high-efficiency engine.<ref name=westword/>
Tillemann's mother, Annette, is a Jewish convert to Mormonism and daughter of Tom Lantos.<ref name=nypost/> While serving on a mission, Levi left the faith when he was unable to reconcile the logical and liberal outlook his parents had instilled in him with perceived inconsistencies in church doctrine.<ref name=westword/><ref> https://www.deseret.com/2017/5/21/20612727/mormon-political-royalty-run-in-colorado/ </ref>
At fifteen, Tillemann started college at Regis University, transferring to Yale University<ref name=nypost/> at 16 where he graduated with honors. He then earned a PhD from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Japan and China studies.<ref name=NewAmerica/><ref name=JHU/> He speaks Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese.<ref name=cnn/>
==Career== While in graduate school, Tillemann served as a researcher for Pulitzer Prize-winning economic writer Daniel Yergin.<ref name=westword/> and, with his brother Corban, continued his father's efforts to develop radical new engine design that is much more efficient than a traditional internal combustion engine.<ref name=natgeo/> In 2009, their startup, IRIS engines, won a $100,000 investment prize from venture firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson.<ref name=natgeo/><ref name=kojo/> The IRIS Engine also won numerous other awards, including in NASA's annual "Create the Future" design competition,<ref>[http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/prizes/winners.html NASA Tech Briefs Create the Future Design Contest<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208110139/http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/prizes/winners.html |date=February 8, 2008 }}</ref> ConocoPhillips' Energy Prize competition,<ref>[http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/conocophillips-energy-prize-winner-announced/story.aspx?guid={95A58FEC-8F24-4AF8-B244-CC0FFF4B3EA2}&dist=hppr<!-- Bot generated title -->]{{dead link|date=December 2011}}</ref> and several university sponsored competitions.<ref name=cnn /><ref>{{cite web |title=2009 Johns Hopkins University Business Plan Competition Winners |url=http://pages.jh.edu/~bpc/2009%20Johns%20Hopkins%20University%20Business%20Plan%20Competition%20Winners.pdf}}</ref>
The engine uses the walls of the chamber as a working surface, rather than the floor of the chamber, and in turn increases its working surface area from about 25% to more than 70%.<ref name=natgeo/><ref name=cnn/> Levi holds multiple U.S. and international patents for the IRIS design.
He served as a Special Advisor for Policy and International Affairs at the Department of Energy and chaired the Department's Autonomous and Connected Vehicles Energy Working Group.<ref name=NewAmerica/> His is currently a Jeff and Cal Leonard Fellow at the New America Foundation and Managing Partner at Valence Strategic, LLC.<ref name=NewAmerica/>
=== The Great Race: The Global Quest For The Car Of The Future === Tillemann's book, published in 2015 by Simon & Schuster, explains the $2 trillion global automotive industry and the competition between the U.S., Japan, and China to create the next generation of automobiles.<ref name=cspan/><ref name=Rehm/> He argues that strategic government policy plays a critical role in car development.<ref name=cspan/><ref name=Street/><ref name=SS/>
==2018 U.S. House campaign== In May 2017, Tillemann announced the formation of an exploratory committee and the beginning of a listening tour to examine the feasibility of a congressional bid in {{ushr|CO|6}}.<ref name="Campaign website" /> After a six-week listening tour, he officially announced his candidacy.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ernest Luning |date=June 28, 2017 |title=Democrat Levi Tillemann plans to make it official — he's running in Colorado's 6th Congressional District |publisher=Colorado Politics |url=https://coloradopolitics.com/democrat-levi-tillemann-plans-make-official-hes-running-colorados-6th-congressional-district/#comment-56116}}</ref>
Tillemann was endorsed by state senator and speaker pro-tempore Rhonda Fields as well as the Denver chapter of the Progressive Democrats of America.<ref name=fields>{{cite news |last=Luning |first=Ernest |date=March 28, 2018 |title=Rhonda Fields endorses Levi Tillemann in 6th Congressional District Democratic primary |publisher=Colorado Politics |url=https://coloradopolitics.com/rhonda-fields-endorses-levi-tillemann-in-6th-congressional-district-democratic-primary/ |access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref><ref name=sentinel>{{cite news |newspaper=The Aurora Sentinel |date=February 27, 2018|title=Progressive Dems backing Tillemann for CD6 race |url=https://www.sentinelcolorado.com/news/progressive-dems-backing-tillemann-cd6-race/ |access-date=March 28, 2018}}</ref>
In April 2018, it emerged that Congressman Steny Hoyer and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee were supporting Tillemann's opponent, lawyer Jason Crow.<ref name=intercept/> In a recorded conversation, Hoyer urged Tillemann to drop out of the race. Hoyer acknowledged that the DCCC had already identified Crow as their choice candidate and discouraged a candid discussion about his weaknesses.<ref name=intercept>{{cite news |last=Fang |first=Lee |date=April 26, 2018 |title=Secretly Taped Audio Reveals Democratic Leadership Pressuring Progressive to Leave Race |url=https://theintercept.com/2018/04/26/steny-hoyer-audio-levi-tillemann/?link_id=1&can_id=1ba27d10330c5ba97dcdb8dc6623001a&source=email-secret-audio-of-steny-hoyer&email_referrer=email_343049&email_subject=secret-audio-of-steny-hoyer |publisher=The Intercept |access-date=April 26, 2018 }}</ref> Crow went on to win the primary and defeat Republican incumbent Mike Coffman in the general election.
==References== {{reflist|30em|refs= <ref name=accident>{{cite news|last=Warner|first=Joel|date=April 11, 2008|title=Denver inventor Dick dies after crash|url=http://www.denverpost.com/obituaries/ci_8891919|accessdate=July 4, 2014|newspaper=The Denver Post}}</ref>
<ref name=cnn>{{cite news|title=Startup showdown: The winners|url=https://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/smallbusiness/0904/gallery.Rice_business_plan_competition_winners.smb/3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090424070820/http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2009/smallbusiness/0904/gallery.Rice_business_plan_competition_winners.smb/3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 24, 2009|accessdate=4 July 2014|publisher=CNNMoney |date=April 4, 2009}}</ref>
<ref name=cspan>{{cite web|title=Book Discussion on The Great Race|url=http://www.c-span.org/video/?324270-1/book-discussion-great-race|accessdate=February 4, 2015|publisher=C-Span}}</ref>
<ref name=JHU>{{cite web|title= Hopkins Family Sets Internal Combustion on Fire|url=http://krieger2.jhu.edu/magazine/f09/a5.html|accessdate=February 12, 2015|publisher=Johns Hopkins}}</ref>
<ref name=kojo>{{cite web|title= The Future of the Combustion Engine|url=http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2010-06-08/future-combustion-engine|accessdate=July 4, 2014|publisher=WAMU|date=June 6, 2008}}</ref>
<ref name=natgeo>{{cite news|last=Reske|first=Henry|date=May 12, 2012|title=A Fuel-Saving Car Engine in the Blink of an IRIS|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100512-energy-iris-fuel-saving-engine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515111922/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/05/100512-energy-iris-fuel-saving-engine|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2010|newspaper=National Geographic|access-date=February 12, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=NewAmerica>{{cite web|title=The Next Class of New America Fellows|url=http://newamerica.net/node/115924|accessdate=July 4, 2014|publisher=NewAmerica|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140704033233/http://newamerica.net/node/115924|archive-date=July 4, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name=nypost>{{cite news|last=Rosenthal|first=A.M.|date=May 12, 2012|title=A Picture of Inspiration|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/opinions/picture-inspiration-article-1.879679|newspaper=New York Daily News|access-date=February 12, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=Rehm>{{cite web|title= Levi Tillemann: "The Great Race: The Global Quest For The Car Of The Future"|url=http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-01-26/levi_tillemann_the_great_race_the_global_quest_for_the_car_of_the_future|accessdate=February 6, 2014|publisher=WAMU}}</ref>
<ref name=SS>{{cite web|title=Levi Tillemann|url=http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Levi-Tillemann/448346261|accessdate=February 6, 2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster}}</ref>
<ref name=Street>{{cite news|last=Greenberg|first=Greg|date=January 20, 2015|title=Tesla, U.S. Leading 'Great Race' to Perfect the Car of the Future|url=http://www.thestreet.com/video/13016604/tesla-us-leading-great-race-to-perfect-the-car-of-the-future.html|newspaper=The Street|accessdate=February 12, 2015}}</ref>
<ref name=westword>{{cite web|last=Warner|first=Joel|date=July 8, 2008|title=Denver's Own Royal Tenenbaums|url=http://www.westword.com/news/denvers-own-royal-tenenbaums-5099726|newspaper=Westword|accessdate=February 11, 2015}}</ref> }}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20170801203248/https://www.leviforcolorado.com/ Campaign website] * {{cite web|last=U.S. State Department|date=March 23, 2015|title=The Great Race|website=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWulvPM5Wxg|accessdate=April 6, 2015}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillemann, Levi}} Category:Living people Category:Yale University alumni Category:21st-century American writers Category:American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Category:Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies alumni Category:Former Latter Day Saints Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections Category:1981 births Category:Tom Lantos