From advocating for climate justice to organizing the university’s Climate Action Month and advising the City of Cleveland on decarbonization, Case Western Reserve University students, faculty and staff are actively involved in sustainability and climate initiatives.
Each year the university’s Office of Energy and Sustainability honors members of the CWRU community who excel at making the university and greater community a greener place to live and work with the Sustainability Champion awards. Most awardees don’t have sustainability in their job description and use personal time, energy and passion to make a difference.
Typically only three individuals are recognized (one faculty member, one staff member and one student.) But, because this program has been on pause since 2020, seven deserving individuals were recognized in 2025.
The following individuals were named Sustainability Champions this year:
Faculty:
- Cassi Pittman Claytor, associate professor of sociology, College of Arts and Sciences
- Alp Sehirlioglu, professor and chair of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Case School of Engineering
Staff:
- Laurie Dudik, managing engineer, Engineering Design Center
- Grant Goodrich, executive director of the Great Lakes Energy Institute
- Ina Martin, director of research cores and operations, Office of Strategic Partnerships Program
Students:
- Joel Linebach
- Shejuti Wahed
Read more about their efforts on the Office of Energy and Sustainability website.
The Office of Energy & Sustainability started the awards program in 2015 to recognize CWRU community members making a difference to campus sustainability efforts. Champions are nominated by their peers and an ad-hoc committee helps make the final selections.