NEW YORK, N.Y., TEMPE, Ariz. – The Center for Business Education at the Aspen Institute announced today that Professor Jay Golden of Arizona State University (ASU) has been named 2009 Faculty Pioneer. This recognition program, dubbed the "Oscars of the business school world" by The Financial Times, celebrates business educators who have demonstrated leadership and risk-taking in integrating ethical, environmental and social issues into the business curriculum. Golden will be honored on November 6th at an awards breakfast at Ernst & Young’s corporate headquarters in New York’s Times Square.

An assistant professor in the School of Sustainability within the Global Institute of Sustainability, Dr. Golden is committed to creating a new paradigm in higher education by developing curriculum that fosters multidisciplinary approaches to solving pressing sustainability imperatives for business and society. In addition to teaching classes on corporate environmental sustainability, he has developed innovative courses on sustainability consumption and indicators, and system complexities of climate change and sustainable energy. In 2004 he created the school's Certificate of Sustainable Technologies and Management program comprised of graduate MBA, engineering and sustainability students. Golden also founded and co-directs the summer Sustainable Energy Fellowship, a joint program of ASU, Duke, Michigan, MIT, and Cornell universities that annually educates 40 of the nation's most outstanding undergraduate business, engineering and physical science students on critical sustainability, energy, and climate change challenges faced by business.

Dr. Golden's research focuses on energy-climate system interactions, both for infrastructure and consumer products. His published theoretical and empirical results have provided a platform for the development of a more holistic approach to quantifying the sustainability of consumer products that accounts for all phases of a product's life cycle. He co-founded and co-directs the Sustainability Consortium which is comprised of leading international researchers and aims to develop the best system science and empirical tools for governments and businesses to adopt a unified and transparent sustainability index; this sustainability index is being implemented into supply chain decision-making by global retailers including Walmart.

Golden has been invited to testify about his research before the U.S. Congress. He was named an AT&T Industrial Ecology Fellow; has been appointed to a United Nations task force on life cycle management; and serves as an advisor on sustainability strategies for many multi-national corporations.

"It is immensely gratifying to work in a field where I can help students to explore the world's sustainability challenges and work with them to develop practical solutions," says Golden. "I am honored to be recognized by the Aspen Institute as a Faculty Pioneer."

"Now more than ever before we are witnessing the substantial influence of business on society," says Rich Leimsider, director of Aspen Center for Business Education. "It’s the trailblazing research and teaching of these Faculty Pioneers that will prepare future business leaders to make the most of this influence, by leveraging successful businesses to create positive social impacts."

Three other Faculty Pioneers were selected this year:

• Lifetime Achievement: Thomas Donaldson, Mark O. Winkelman Professor at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
• Gregory Fairchild, Associate Professor of Business Administration, The Darden School of Business, University of Virginia
• Michael Lenox, Samuel L. Slover Professor of Business

  The Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

This year's winners were selected from over 125 nominations submitted by respected academics and business executives; self-nominations are not considered. Finalists are selected by Aspen Institute staff in consultation with prominent academics; winners are selected by a panel of corporate judges. This year's final-round judges are:

• Dan Bross, senior director of corporate citizenship, Microsoft
• Andrea Doane, director of corporate giving and community affairs, United Technologies
• Deborah Holmes, global director of corporate responsibility, Ernst & Young
• Lauren Iannarone, head of downstream policy and stakeholder relations, Shell
• Mitch Jackson, director of environmental affairs and sustainability, FedEx
• Valerie Smith, vice president of environmental affairs, CitiGroup

In addition to public recognition, Faculty Pioneers receive an honorarium.

For more information about this awards program, visit: http://www.aspenCBE.org/.

About the Aspen Institute Center for Business Education

The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education equips business leaders for the 21st century with a new management paradigm—the vision and knowledge to integrate corporate profitability and social value. As part the Aspen Institute, the Center aims to foster values-based leadership, encouraging individuals to reflect on the ideals and ideas that define a good society, and to provide a neutral and balanced venue for discussing and acting on critical issues.

About Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability

The Global Institute of Sustainability is the hub of ASU’s sustainability initiatives. The Institute advances research, education and business practices for an urbanizing world. Its School of Sustainability, the first of its kind in the US, offers transdisciplinary degree programs that advance practical solutions to environmental, economic, and social challenges. For more information visit the Global Institute of Sustainability at http://sustainability.asu.edu.

About ASU’s School of Sustainability

Established in 2007, the School of Sustainability brings together multiple disciplines and leaders to create and share knowledge, train a new generation of scholars and practitioners, and develop practical solutions to the most pressing environmental, economic, and social challenges of sustainability – especially as they relate to urban areas. For more information visit the School of Sustainability at http://schoolofsustainability.asu.edu.

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MEDIA CONTACTS:

Michelle Schwartz, 480-965-9008 / michelle.schwartz@asu.edu

Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University

Linda Lehrer, 212-895-8002 / linda.lehrer@aspeninstitute.org

The Aspen Institute