William McDonough

William McDonough is a globally recognized leader in sustainable development. McDonough is trained as an architect, yet his interests and influence range widely, and he works at scales from the global to the molecular. McDonough is the architect of many recognized flagships of sustainable design, including the Ford Rouge truck plant in Michigan and NASA’s Sustainability Base, one of the most innovative facilities in the federal portfolio. He was the Inaugural Chair of the World Economic Forum’s MetaCouncil on the Circular Economy (2014-2016) and currently serves on the Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of Environment and Natural Resource Security.

McDonough has written and lectured extensively on design as the first signal of human intention. He was commissioned in 1991 to write The Hannover Principles: Design for Sustainability as guidelines for the City of Hannover’s EXPO 2000. In 2002 he co-authored Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, widely acknowledged as a seminal text of the sustainability movement, which was followed by The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability— Designing for Abundance (2013).

McDonough advises commercial and governmental leaders worldwide through McDonough Innovation. He is also active with William McDonough + Partners, his architecture practice in Charlottesville, VA, as well as MBDC, the Cradle to Cradle consulting firm co-founded with Michael Braungart.

He co-founded two not-for-profit organizations to allow public accessibility to Cradle to Cradle thinking: GreenBlue (2000), to convene industry groups around Cradle to Cradle issues; and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute (2009), to expand the rigorous product certification program. In 2017 he cofounded Fashion for Good with the C&A Foundation, a joint-industry initiative which aims to transform the global apparel chain into a force for good based on Cradle to Cradle Certified™ to define its quality.

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

• United States Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, President Clinton,1996
• Hero for the Planet, Time Magazine, 1999
• Benjamin Botwinick Prize for Ethical Practice in the Professions, Columbia University Business School, 2003
• National Design Award, The Smithsonian Institution, Cooper-Hewitt Museum,2004
• Presidential Green Chemistry Award, President George W. Bush (for work with Shaw Industries/Berkshire Hathaway), 2004
• 21st Century Visionary Science Leadership Award, U.S. EPA, 2008
• Rachel Carson Environmental Award, Natural Products Award, 2013
• J.N. Darling Conservation Award, National Wildlife Federation, 2014
• US Green Building Council Leadership Award, 2016
• Award for Circular Economy Leadership, World Economic Forum, 2017