Awards

O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs Distinguished Alumni Awards - 2004

About Jay Benforado

Jay Benforado is the Director of the National Center for Environmental Innovation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). As the director, he oversees how the center develops strategic thinking on innovative approaches to environmental management, including the creation of innovative cross-media environmental strategies, creative partnerships with businesses and communities, and involvement in environmental policy studies and dialogues aimed at strengthening the environmental protection system. Throughout his time as director, Benforado has accomplished numerous achievements such as the National Academy of Public Administration's 2000 report, "Environment.Gov: Transforming Environmental Protection for the 21st Century", Project XL, which established 50 projects that test flexible environmental solutions, and the Innovation Strategy, which provides a comprehensive and forward-looking agenda to guide the next generation of environmental innovation at EPA.

Benforado graduated from University of Wisconsin - Madison in 1976 and earned his M.S.E.S. from Indiana University in 1979. He first worked as a water policy analyst at the Conservation Foundation and later as a wetland ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Benforado joined the EPA in 1985, working in the wetland protection and National Environmental Policy Act programs. Next, he was assigned to its Office of Research and Development for nine years, where he oversaw science policy issues and research planning. Under his leadership, the Office of Research and Development established a new organization to review the scientific and technical basis of EPA policies and regulatory decisions, and implemented the successful regional scientist program that rotates an R&D scientist or engineer to an EPA regional office to advise the Regional Administrator.

He has won awards for his work in conservation and environmental policy, such as the Gold Medal, EPA's highest award, for his contributions to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Implementation Study in 1990. Benforado was inducted into the Senior Executive Service, the federal government's elite corps of career managers in 1994. In 2004, Indiana University recognized him with the School of Public & Environmental Affairs Distinguished Alumni Award.