Gregory Unruh

Gregory Unruh

Gregory Unruh

Arison Chair in Values Leadership

Associate Professor

Sustainable Business Strategy and Social Innovation

Dr. Gregory C. Unruh is the Arison Professor of Values Leadership at George Mason University and an expert on sustainable business strategy. An outspoken advocate of environmental sustainability and climate responsibility, Unruh has served as a technical reviewer for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the group that shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. He is the creator of Carbon Lock-in theory, a line of academic research that has received thousands of citations and spurred new lines of climate policy research around the globe. He has been recognized as a strategic partner of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), an initiative dedicated to implementing socially and environmentally responsible business practices globally. As part of his UNGC commitments, Unruh contributed to the Principles of Responsible Business Education, which he presented to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the Palais de Nations in Geneva. Author of numerous best-selling leadership books, he co-founded the Center for Eco-Intelligent Management with the renowned “green” designer William McDonough and has published his research findings in the Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review and Forbes Magazine.

Selected Publications

Unruh, Gregory, Understanding Carbon Lock-in, Energy Policy, September, 2000.

Unruh, Gregory, Escaping Carbon Lock-in, Energy Policy, February, 2002.

Unruh, Gregory, Join the Global Elite, Harvard Business Review, May, 2013

Unruh, Gregory, The Sweet Spot of Sustainability Strategy, MIT Sloan Management Review, Fall, 2013

Angel Cabrera & Unruh, Gregory, Being Global: How to Think, Act and Lead in a Transformed World, Harvard Business School Press, 2012.

Unruh, Gregory, Earth, Inc.: Using Nature’s Rules to Build Sustainable Profits, Harvard Business School Press, 2010.

Unruh, Gregory, Wining the Green Frenzy, Harvard Business Review, November 2010.

Unruh, Gregory, Growing Green: Three Smart Paths to Developing Sustainable Products, Harvard Business Review, June 2010.

Unruh, Gregory, The Biosphere Rules, Harvard Business Review, February 1, 2008

Education

Ph.D., International Environmental and Technology Management, The Fletcher School, Tufts University 1998.

M.A., International Business Relations, Schiller International University, Spain and France, 1994.

B.S., Earth Science and Engineering, University of California, Davis, May 1987.

Recent Presentations

“Scarcity, the Driver of Sustainability Innovation” World Economic Forum, Summer Davos 2011

“Green Jobs, Green Economy” Clinton Global Initiative Meeting 2012

“Global Sustainability Leadership” Sustainable Brands 2012, San Diego, California

“Board Level Sustainability Governance” United Nations Global Compact LEAD 2011

“The Principles of Responsible Management Education” Academy of Management, Anaheim, CA., August 2008.