Professor Bryant, a faculty member in the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE), will receive the Helen and William D. Milliken Distinguished Service Award May 28. The ceremony takes place as part of the Tenth Annual Environmental Awards Celebration, coordinated by the Michigan Environmental Council (MEC). The annual Milliken Award recognizes an individual who has made outstanding contributions to the protection of Michigan's environment.

"I am honored to receive this prestigious award and grateful for the attention it gives the field of environmental justice, which has been my life's work," said Professor Bryant, who began teaching at SNRE in 1972. Today, he coordinates the school's Environmental Justice field of study and directs its Environmental Justice Initiative, which he helped create about 10 years ago. The mission of the Environmental Justice Initiative is to ensure the rights of all people to live in a safe, clean and healthy environment.

"Environmental Justice seeks to help the public and policymakers use scientific information to build sustainable communities worldwide," Professor Bryant said.

The Milliken Award was first bestowed in 2000. Past honorees have included John Dingell, Peter Wege and Peter Karmanos. The honoree is chosen by the board of directors of MEC, a coalition of organizations protecting Michigan's people and environment.

In selecting him for its award, MEC board members noted his pioneering research and writings on environmental justice; his success in teaching, guiding and inspiring undergraduate and graduate students; and his international reputation as a leader in academic and social justice circles.

"I've long been a great admirer of Bunyan because I've never known him to step back down from doing the right thing, no matter what the challenge," said Lana Pollack, president of the Michigan Environmental Council.

Professor Bryant's lifelong contributions to environmental justice have been recognized numerous times in recent decades. In addition to the Milliken Award this spring, he will receive a special 2008 Environmental Leadership Award April 9 from the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS). The award recognizes his lifetime of leadership and contributions to promoting environmental justice.

He will receive the ACCESS honor during the organization's 5^th Annual Environmental Leadership Celebration at the Bint Jebail Culture Center, 6220 Miller Rd., in Dearborn, from 6-9 p.m. Three years ago, SNRE master's students conducted an environmental justice analysis of the Arab community in and around Dearborn for ACCESS. The work was partially funded with a grant from the Ford Foundation to the Environmental Justice Initiative, The students' report concluded that the community was being overburdened by toxins.

Professor Bryant traces his roots in environmental justice to some of the field's seminal moments. He was a co-organizer of the 1990 University of Michigan "Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards," which had considerable national impact. It led to a series of high-level policy meetings with then EPA Administrator William K. Reilly under President George H. W. Bush's administration and later EPA Administrator Carol Browner. From these meetings came a commitment from the EPA to address environmental justice issues and to create an Office of Environmental Justice. "We played a major role in putting environmental justice on the radar of the federal government," Professor Bryant said.

In 1991, he was on the Advisory Committee of the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit. In 1994-95, he was a member of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. And in 1994, he was co-facilitator of the "Symposium for Health Research and Needs to Ensure Environmental Justice," an event sponsored by major federal agencies, at which more than 1,000 grassroots activists, government personnel ,and scientists and people from the academic community participated. Professor Bryant was also part of a movement responsible for President Clinton's signing of the Environmental Justice Executive Order 12898 - an order that is having a major impact on federal agencies and communities throughout the country.

Professor Bryant continues to teach and raise awareness about the Initiative, which is guided by a 17-member advisory board. He helped write the plan behind the Environmental Justice Initiative's fund-raising efforts, which calls for establishing a $4 million endowment for student support; a $6 million endowment for an Environmental Justice Center; and $2 million for an endowed chair.

Event information:
Michigan Environmental Council's Tenth Annual Environmental Awards Celebration
Wednesday, May 28
5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
University of Michigan Alumni Center, 200 Fletcher St., Ann Arbor, Michigan
Map of campus: http://pts.umich.edu/maps/central_south.pdf
Ticket info: If you are interested in attending, call MEC's Brianna Gerard at 517.487.9539.

ACCESS' 5th Annual Environmental Leadership Celebration
Wednesday, April 9
6 p.m.
Bint Jebail Cultural Center, 6220 Miller Rd., Dearborn, Mich.
Ticket info: Tickets start at $50 and are available online. For more information, contact Kathryn Savoie, ACCESS' environmental program director, at 313.216.2225 or ksavoie@accesscommunity.org.

About the School of Natural Resources and Environment:

The School of Natural Resources and Environment's overarching objective is to contribute to the protection of the earth's resources and the achievement of a sustainable society. Through research, teaching, and outreach, faculty, staff, and students are devoted to generating knowledge and developing policies, techniques and skills to help practitioners manage and conserve natural and environmental resources to meet the full range of human needs on a sustainable basis.

2008-03-31T00:00:00 Kevin Merrill, director of communications
School of Natural Resources and Environment
Office: 734.936.2447
Cell: 734.417.7392
merrillk@umich.edu Ann Arbor, Michigan