Dr. Robert Bullard

Dr. Robert D. Bullard is distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy and founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University. He is co-founder of the HBCU-CBO Gulf Coast Equity Consortium, HBCU Climate Change Consortium and the National Black Environmental Justice Network. He received his Ph.D. degree from Iowa State University, M.A. degree from Clark Atlanta University and B.A. degree from Alabama A&M University. Professor Bullard is often called the “father of environmental justice.” He has written 18 books. His Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class and Environmental Justice (1990) was the first book on environmental justice. His latest book is The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How the Government Response to Disaster Endangers African American Communities (2023). In 2008, Newsweek named him one of “13 Environmental Leaders of the Century.” In 2019, Apolitical named him one of the world’s 100 Most Influential People in Climate Policy, and Climate One presented him the Stephen H. Schneider Award for Outstanding Climate Science Communication. In 2020, WebMD gave him its Health Heroes Trailblazer Award and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) honored him with its Champions of the Earth Lifetime Achievement Award, the UN’s highest environmental honor. In 2021, he was appointed by President Biden to serve on the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. In 2022, he was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Georgetown University and the University of Johannesburg. In 2023, he was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, California Arts and Sciences, and he received Harvard Law School Environmental Law Society’s Horizon Award and the John E. Gould Medal from the American Geographical Society. And in 2024, he was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Clark University and received the TIME Earth Award.