Robert Bullard, distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University, has received the 2025 Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Award from the American Society for Public Administration. Presented annually, the award recognizes an individual’s lifetime achievement and unwavering commitment to advancing social equity.
Throughout his career, Dr. Bullard has conducted extensive research on environmental racism, urban land use, and climate justice. In 1979, he led a landmark study revealing that African American neighborhoods in Houston were disproportionately selected for toxic waste sites. His work has led to numerous books, including Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality (Westview Press, 1990), which is considered a foundational text in the field of environmental justice.
At Texas Southern, Dr. Bullard serves as founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice. From 2011 to 2016, he served as dean of the university’s Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs. With over five decades of academic experience, he has taught and conducted research at several institutions, including service as director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University and director of research for the Center for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Bullard holds a bachelor’s degree in government from Alabama A&M University, a master’s degree in sociology from Atlanta University, and a Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University.
