Often called “the father of environmental justice,” Dr. Robert D. Bullard will deliver the 2024 Commencement address.
He is the Distinguished Professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy at Texas Southern University, where he founded and directs the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. He is also co-founder of the HBCU Climate Change Consortium and the National Black Environmental Justice Network, and in 2021 he was appointed by President Biden to serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Dr. Bullard has published 18 books that address environmental racism, urban land use, housing, transportation, sustainability, smart growth, climate justice, and community resilience.
Newsweek named Dr. Bullard one of “13 Environmental Leaders of the Century” in 2008, and in 2019 Apolitical named him one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication from Climate One; the WebMD Health Heroes Trailblazer Award; the Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award from the United Nations Environment Program; and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. In 2023, Dr. Bullard was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences as well as the California Academy of Sciences and received the Horizon Award from the Environmental Law Society at Harvard Law School and the John E. Gould Medal from the American Geographical Society.
Dr. Bullard earned his doctorate in sociology from Iowa State University, his master’s in sociology from Clark Atlanta University, and his bachelor’s in government from Alabama A&M University.
Professor Rinku Roy Chowdhury will present Dr. Bullard for the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.