UMass Boston

UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco has been honored with a Resilient Boston Award by the City of Boston, recognizing his impactful leadership in advancing climate resilience and sustainability efforts both locally and globally.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco is spearheading a global effort on climate resilience, linking local and international action through regional summits, including one in Boston, and shaping a worldwide framework for a more sustainable future. 

“I am honored and humbled to receive a Resilient Boston Award from the City of Boston,” Suárez-Orozco said. “As Boston’s premier public research university, UMass Boston is proud to be a key partner in city- and statewide efforts around climate resilience planning, in service of the public good. Indeed, the award underscores how important collaboration among all sectors must remain. And I believe it recognizes the importance of innovative, imaginative research in fighting one battle we cannot afford to lose.”

Mayor Michelle Wu and the City of Boston’s Environment Department hosted the inaugural Boston Climate Leader Awards at Millennium Partners’ Winthrop Center Thursday evening, bringing together civic leaders, community partners, advocates, businesses, and innovators to recognize climate action across buildings, energy, climate resilience, and environmental protection.

This community-led process received 117 nominations for various individuals and organizations. Applicants went through multiple iterations of review by various City of Boston departments. 

“Our first-ever Climate Leader Award recipients represent the best of Boston’s commitment to environmental justice and community-driven action,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “From neighborhood organizers to major institutions, these leaders are building a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable city for all. Their innovation and passion power Boston’s climate leadership and fuel our collective progress to confront the climate crisis head-on.”

Under Chancellor Suárez-Orozco’s leadership, UMass Boston has prioritized climate equity and urban coastal resilience, positioning the university as a key partner in city and statewide efforts focused on climate resilience planning. The university’s location on Boston’s coastline has made it a living laboratory for environmental research, policy, and planning.

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco has also played a pivotal role on the global stage. In May 2024, he co-authored the Planetary Protocol for Climate Change Resilience, a landmark compact signed by international leaders, including Pope Francis, at a Vatican climate summit. This protocol emphasizes a global and local approach to climate mitigation, adaptation, and societal transformation rooted in equity and scientific innovation.

"I'm thrilled to see Chancellor Suárez-Orozco receive this award! He is a brilliant and talented leader who cares deeply about our Common Home, as Pope Francis has so aptly described the Earth," said Climate Chief Melissa Hoffer. "The chancellor is a courageous leader who understands the urgency required to address global climate change and acts accordingly. In his role as chancellor, he has brought together and inspired, with his irresistible energy and wit, global leaders and changemakers to advance climate resiliency efforts.  The Commonwealth has incorporated the MAST—mitigation, adaptation, and social transformation—strategy he helped to create, and his dauntless esperanza is a beacon to subnational leaders around the world.”

"Massachusetts is a global leader in climate innovation, and that's in large part due to the partnerships we have with leaders at our incredible state universities — especially Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco," said Governor Maura Healey. "I'm so pleased to see him receive this well-deserved award because it's through his work that Boston and Massachusetts' climate leadership has been showcased on the global stage. In addition to spearheading innovative resiliency and sustainability efforts on campus, he also played a central role in convening us all at the Vatican's Climate Summit last year and hosted the follow-up ResilientMass Summit at UMass Boston earlier this year. He is a brilliant advocate for Boston, for our planet, and for global progress — and we're lucky to have him!"

Last month, alongside Governor Healey and Mayor Wu, he hosted the ResilientMass Summit—a gathering of state officials, mayors, Indigenous and community leaders, researchers, philanthropists, and entrepreneurs—who came together for vital conversations on the far-reaching impacts of climate change and to exchange bold, innovative strategies for building community resilience.

The summit is a launching pad for ten global regional summits scheduled for 2025, sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Chancellor Suárez-Orozco and Dr. Ram Ramanathan, professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, are leading the regional summits alongside dedicated task forces from the two Academies.

“Chancellor Marcelo is a pioneer in bringing the human-dimensions of climate/weather extremes to the forefront. He has created an admirable partnership with the Governor of Mass and Mayor of Boston to make Massachusetts the capital for climate-resilience governance and actions,” Ramanathan said. “Through the sub-national effort, Chancellor Marcelo and I are organizing around the globe, we are leading an unprecedented movement making our cities and states more resilient. The core principles of our MAST strategy developed at the Pontifical academy of sciences and social sciences offer a blueprint of best practices."

Chancellor Suárez-Orozco’s recognition underscores UMass Boston’s commitment to addressing the pressing challenges of climate change through research, education, and community engagement.

“It is wonderful to see Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco honored as a Boston Climate Leader,” said Mary Waters, the John L. Loeb Professor of Sociology at Harvard University. “He has been working tirelessly to bring together scientists, local and national government leaders, and young people, who are all working on creating solutions to the urgent problem of global climate change.  Marcelo’s passion for Boston and its future, his strong ethical and moral leadership, and his ability to bring people together for a common purpose is inspiring.”

In addition to these high-profile efforts, the chancellor has championed climate justice initiatives on campus, supporting interdisciplinary research, student engagement, and partnerships with communities disproportionately affected by climate change. He has also worked to integrate sustainability into the university’s academic mission and physical planning, ensuring UMass Boston models the kind of forward-looking action it seeks to inspire in others.

Fellow awardees included Boston Harbor Now, A Better City, Mass Audubon's Boston Nature Center, LISC Massachusetts, Found Energy, Dr. Anna Goldman of the BMC/Clean Power Prescription Program, and IBEW Local 103 - The Greater Boston Joint Apprenticeship Training Center, among others.

“The leaders we recognized tonight are showing us what climate leadership looks like at every scale—from energy efficiency retrofits and green jobs training, to urban tree planting and climate-smart healthcare,” said Brian Swett, Chief Climate Officer. “Accomplishing our climate agenda in Boston requires leadership in every corner of the City, and we’re proud to uplift their work and deepen our partnerships as we accelerate toward our carbon neutrality goals.”