Polly Courtice, founding director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, has been named as the 2015 recipient of the Stanford Bright Award. 

The annual prize recognizes unheralded individuals who have made significant contributions to global sustainability. Polly Courtice has won the 2015 award for her efforts in guiding thousands of business leaders to more sustainable business practices.

When Polly Courtice graduated from college with degrees in history and archaeology, she had no intention of becoming a leader in environmental sustainability. In fact, she now jokes that the word might not have even been in her lexicon at the time. But since then she has spent two-plus decades as founding director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and guided hundreds of corporations toward making responsible environmental decisions.

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Ray Bright, a Stanford Law School alumnus, created the award as a gift on behalf of his late wife, Marcelle, and himself. Mr. Bright died in 2011. “We are very proud to be the stewards of such a generous gift from Ray Bright and to carry on his wishes by shining a light on critical work such as Polly Courtice’s in the hopes of extending its influence,” said M. Elizabeth Magill, the Richard E. Lang Professor of Law and Dean of Stanford Law School.

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