Corporate Leadership

The History of the John A.S. McGlennon Award for Corporate Leadership

This award, created by resolution of the Board of Directors in 1994, is presented to a public or private corporation in recognition of their outstanding corporate leadership and contribution to the quality of the environment in New England. Historically, the selected organization is one has had a close working relationship with an EBC member company. To honor and acknowledge the special contribution of John A.S. McGlennon to the protection and enhancement of the environment in New England, a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors on Tuesday, September 10, 2002, advanced the name of the Corporate Leadership Award to the John A. S. McGlennon Award for Corporate Leadership.

John A.S. McGlennon (August 10, 1935 – December 17, 2015) was a founding director of the EBC in 1990. He graduated from Bowdoin College, Class of 1957 and after active duty in the Army Corps of the U.S. Army, serving as a lieutenant in a tank training battalion, he worked at Aetna Insurance Company for several years. John held staff positions with the Republican State Committee and was appointment secretary to Governor John Volpe. In 1966, he was elected as the Massachusetts State Representative from the Concord/Carlisle district. During his four years in the Legislature, he authorized several of the Commonwealth’s first environmental laws and initiated Article 49 of the state’s constitution, the Conservation Bill of Rights, which assures every citizen the right to a clean environment.

In late 1971, John was sworn in as the first New England Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA – Region 1), newly-created by U.S. President Richard Nixon. In his six years as Regional Administrator, John organized and led the first comprehensive clean up and protection of New England’s natural resources, including efforts to restore Boston Harbor and New England’s major rivers.

After the EPA, John founded and built a successful environmental consulting company, ERM-McGlennon Associates, which became a leader in solving New England’s environmental problems, particularly in the area of hazardous waste and Superfund sites, where he often served as a mediator among conflicting parties.