The First to Analyze Global Environmental Issues  

In 1974, with support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Lester Brown founded the Worldwatch Institute, the first research institute devoted to the analysis of global environmental issues. While there he launched the Worldwatch Papers, the annual State of the World reports, World Watch magazine, a second annual entitled Vital Signs: The Trends That are Shaping Our Future, and the Environmental Alert book series.  In May 2001, he founded the Earth Policy Institute to provide a vision and a road map for achieving an environmentally sustainable economy. In November 2001, he published Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth, which was hailed by E.O. Wilson as "an instant classic." His most recent book is Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. Klaus Schwab of the World Economic Forum called it, "A great book which should wake up humankind!"

Local Farmer to Global Scholar

Brown started his career as a farmer, growing tomatoes in southern New Jersey with his younger brother during high school and college.  Since then, he has served in the government advising on agricultural policy and practices, established the Overseas Development Council and authored or coauthored over 50 books in some 40 languages. Among his many accolades, Brown is the recipient of 23 honorary degrees, a MacArthur Fellowship, the 1987 United Nations' Environment Prize, the 1989 World Wide Fund for Nature Gold Medal, and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his "exceptional contributions to solving global environmental problems." More recently, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Italy, the Borgström Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, and appointed an honorary professor of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.