My Hat Goes Off to ASU Sustainability Dean Sander van der Leeuw

When the alumni magazine from Arizona State University (ASU) arrives, I usually flip through the pages quickly, looking for something that might catch my eye. In the most recent issue I made it all the way to page four when I saw the words, “UN names ASU sustainability dean a ‘Champion of the Earth.’”

Since sustainability and green play an important role in supply chain (our December issue focuses on the topic, including our annual Green Supply Chain Awards) I read on. Prof. Sander van der Leeuw, an archaeologist and historian by training, was one of six Champions of the Earth honored in June at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

His work began with a series of regional archaeological research projects in Syria, Holland and France to understand the evolution of the relationship between societies and their environments. Later, his work focused on bringing a long-term perspective to the problems of land degradation and how changes in the natural environment are linked to technological, sociological and economic changes.

Van der Leeuw, a native of the Netherlands, who joined ASU in 2004 has quite the title: Dean of the School of Sustainability in ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS). And GIOS is a strategic research area in the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development.

Not as succinct as Champion of the Earth. Congratulations, Prof. van der Leeuw.