Past Honorees:
2021:
Carol Browner, EPA's longest serving administrator
2020:
Denis Hayes, the organizer of the first Earth Day and current president of the Bullitt Foundation
2019:
Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Rose Marcario, CEO and President of Patagonia
2018:
Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Apple’s Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives
2017:
Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
2016:
The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury (2006-2009) and Founder and Chairman, Paulson Institute
2015:
Henry Diamond, Founder and Senior Counsel, Beveridge & Diamond, P.C.
2014:
Mary Nichols, Chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board, and the State of California
2013:
George Shultz, Secretary of State (1982-1989) and Chair of the Hoover Institution’s Schultz-Stephenson Task Force on Energy Policy, and Thomas Steyer, Founder and President, NextGen America
2012:
The City of New York
2011:
United States Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu
2010:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
2009:
Hons. Mark Udall and Tom Udall, U.S. Senate
2008:
J. William Futrell, Sustainable Development Law Associates
2007:
Kathryn Fuller, World Wildlife Fund
2006:
Governor George E. Pataki, New York
2005:
John Quarles, Morgan Lewis LLP
2004:
Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., Wayne and Gladys Valley Professor of Marine Biology and Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Oregon State University
2003:
William K. Reilly, Administrator (1989-93), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and President and Chief Executive Officer, Aqua International Partners
2002:
Hon. Sherwood L. Boehlert, U.S. House of Representatives, Chairman of the House Science Committee
2001:
Lee M. Thomas, Administrator (1985-1989), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and President - Consumer Products, Georgia-Pacific Corporation
2000:
Hon. Patricia McGowan Wald, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
1999:
James Gustave Speth, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality, Dean, Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies
1998:
His Excellency, Valdas Adamkus, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region V (1981-1997) and President of the Republic of Lithuania
1997:
Françoise Burhenne-Guilmin, Director, Environmental Law Centre, IUCN
Wolfgang Burhenne, Legal Adviser, IUCN (World Conservation Union)
1996:
Hon. Richard S. Arnold, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, 8th Circuit
Lady Bird Johnson
1995:
William Ruckelshaus, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1970-1973 and 1983-1985) and CEO, Browning-Ferris Industries
1994:
Hon. George J. Mitchell, Majority Leader, U.S. Senate
1993:
Morris Udall, Chairman, House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee
Stewart Udall, Secretary, Department of the Interior
1992:
Gro Harlem Brundtland, Prime Minister of Norway
Maurice Strong, Secretary General, United Nations Environmental Programme
1991:
Hon. John H. Chafee, Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works
1990:
Russell W. Peterson, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality and DuPont
1989:
Hon. James L. Oakes, Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, 2nd Circuit
1988:
Robert T. Stafford, Chairman, Senate, Environment and Public Works Committee
1987:
Hon. Edmund S. Muskie, U.S. Senate
1986:
Russell Train, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality and Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1973-1977)
1985:
Joseph L. Sax, University of Michigan
1984:
David Sive, Sive, Paget & Riesel, P.C.
Past Keynote Speakers:
Previous keynote speakers include: U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno; Vice President Al Gore; Dr. Stephan Schmidheiny, Founder of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development; Senator Dale Bumpers; Mohamed T. El-Ashry, Chairman and CEO of the Global Environment Facility; Carol Browner, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Senator Birch Bayh; Linda Fisher, Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Senator James M. Jeffords; Representative Christopher Shays; and Leon E. Panetta, co-director, The Panetta Institute.