Oakland Community College Professor Debra Rowe was recognized for her accomplishments in education leadership at the annual C3E Women in Clean Energy Symposium on Wednesday, September 17 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) program.
Rowe was one of eight mid-career women recognized by the C3E program and was selected from a nationwide pool of nominations and chosen by distinguished energy C3E Ambassadors program experts. She will receive a $8,000 cash prize from MITEI for her clean energy work.
“Renewable energies are the only forms of energy generation that pay for themselves and then provide free energy while reducing pollution and improving both human and ecosystem health,” Rowe said. “I look forward to empowering more women to be in this career area to help shift human civilization towards a sustainable future. I also am committed to reminding all women that knowledge about green and sustainable energy and energy efficiency can be utilized in all jobs and in our other roles as consumer, investor, family member, and voter and community member.”
Rowe has been professor of energy management and renewable energies for more than 30 years at Oakland Community College. She also teaches Corporate and Campus Sustainability at the University of Vermont. Throughout this time, she has developed curricula in sustainable development, products and processes and sustainable living and co-founded the Higher Education Associations Sustainability Consortium. She is also the President of the U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development, which convenes members of the business, education, communities, government, and faith sectors of the U.S. and catalyzes national sustainability initiatives.
A Senior Fellow at Second Nature and a Senior Advisor to the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, Rowe helps other colleges and universities create their energy management, renewable energies and sustainability programs. She is the chair of the Technical Advisory Group and the Green Jobs Policy Community of Action for the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC). Rowe is also the author and editor of numerous publications, including the newly-released encyclopedia, Achieving Sustainability: Vision, Principles and Practices.
Rowe has a Ph.D. in Business, a Masters in Psychology and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan. She received her undergraduate degree from Yale.
Other award categories included: Advocacy, Business, Entrepreneurial, Government, International, Law & Finance, and Research Leadership. Additionally, the Ambassadors nominated and chose Susan Tierney, a senior advisor at the Analysis Group and formally an assistant secretary at DOE, to be the C3E Lifetime Achievement Award winner.
Read about all of this year’s C3E award winners: http://c3eawards.org/winners/
The U.S. Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) program is an effort to advance the careers and leadership of professional women in the field of clean energy. The program is part of the international C3E Initiative within the 23-government Clean Energy Ministerial framework. Learn more: http://cleanenergyministerial.org/OurWork/Initiatives/WomeninCleanEnergy
Source: OCC
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