Rutgers Business School's Professor Lyons is awarded New Jersey governor's Jefferson Award
Professor Kevin Lyons received a prestigious New Jersey state governor’s Jefferson Award in the category of PSEG environmental stewardship for his work in sustainable purchasing.
Lyons, who teaches supply chain management at Rutgers Business School and previously worked as Rutgers University’s chief procurement officer, accepted the award during a ceremony on June 8 at the Newark Museum. He was among 22 individuals presented with a Jefferson Award.
"Early in his career, Dr. Lyons recognized the need for procurement to be multidimensional and holistic," Rutgers University Newark Chancellor Nancy Cantor wrote in a letter nominating Lyons. "While at Rutgers, he redesigned waste contracts, which increased the university’s recycling rate from 25 percent to 65 percent, among the highest rate of any university in the nation."
"Through his collaboration with different campus operations, reductions were seen in other areas including energy (15 percent), water (10 percent), food waste (30 percent), chemical disposal (20 percent) and emissions (25 percent.)," Cantor wrote.
Lyons was also selected to participate in the Jefferson Awards ceremony in Washington D.C. on June 18 when he will have a chance to win national recognition for his work. He was among a handful of New Jersey Jefferson Award winners to be chosen to advance to the national-level award competition. The Jefferson Awards Foundation is considered one of the country's most prestigious organizations dedicated to celebrating public service.
"It’s very exciting," Lyons said. "After being in this for such a long time, having other folks recognize it is important.”
Lyons’ more recent efforts have focused on educating and training students, corporations and others on the importance of green purchasing, Cantor noted in her nomination letter. "To that end," she wrote, "Dr. Lyons developed the New Jersey Green Purchasing Certification Program, which assistsin the implementation of environmental protection programs around the world."
