Skip to Content
Report an accessibility problem

Sustainability Leadership

Leadership Matters

Sustainability is a fundamental principle that underlies ASU’s learning, research, and business operations. The university has set an ambitious agenda to become a leader in finding and sharing sustainable solutions for a rapidly urbanizing planet.

ASU’s mission grew out of a visionary endeavor by President Michael Crow to engage experts and advisors from around the world in rethinking how a major research university must organize and act to address the increasingly fast-paced challenges of the 21st century. The result would be a model for the New American University.

Because of that inspired effort, a number of the initial advisors and others prominently involved with sustainability issues joined the Board of Directors of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU. We collectively recognized that ASU’s dynamic energy, entrepreneurial mindset, scale, and collaborative spirit made it uniquely positioned to take on the challenges of sustainability and set a new course.

ASU’s first pioneering steps were to establish the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and the first-of-its-kind School of Sustainability. ASU’s sustainability mission, however, transcends conventional boundaries. The ASU Wrigley Institute spans and supports all colleges and units at ASU to infuse sustainability across the university’s curriculum, research, and campus operations. Going beyond the campus, ASU extends knowledge and practices to local, national, and global partnerships by connecting scientists and engineers with policymakers and business leaders.

From introducing freshmen to the principles of sustainability to advancing high-impact research, working closely with cities, and demonstrating renewable solutions — such as one of the largest university-deployed solar power infrastructures in the U.S. – the ASU Wrigley Institute articulates ASU’s university-wide commitment to sustainability.

We invite you to become part of the solution.


Julie Ann Wrigley
President and CEO, Wrigley Investment LLC
Co-Founder, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability
Co-Chair, Board of Directors of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU


S. Robson Walton
Retired Chairman of the Board of Directors, Walmart
Co-Chair, Board of Directors of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability at ASU


Michael Crow
President, Arizona State University
Distinguished Sustainability Scientist, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability