Honorary Member

One or more Honorary Members may be selected each year by the Academy's Board of Trustees by affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of its members. The individual so honored possesses one or more of the following characteristics:

• has attained a position of eminence in the field of environmental and/or human health protection;
• has made a single noteworthy contribution or sustained contribution to the advancement of environmental and/or human health protection; or
• has rendered outstanding service over a long period of time resulting in the advancement of the affairs of the Academy.

Click here for the full criteria and nomination forms.

2026 Honorary Member

Domenico Grasso, Ph.D., P.E.

On May 8, 2025, the University of Michigan Board of Regents named Domenico Grasso as president of the university on an interim basis, serving during the search for the next president. Grasso holds faculty roles across the institution, including professor of civil and environmental engineering at UM-Ann Arbor and secondary appointments in public policy and administration and sustainable engineering at UM-Dearborn. 

Grasso is admired for his leadership as the sixth chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, a role he began on Aug. 1, 2018. Under his tenure, UM-Dearborn transitioned to a need-based financial aid model, raised its four-year graduation rate by 16%, and tripled external research funding, milestones that contributed to the campus achieving R2 research classification. 

Before joining UM-Dearborn, Grasso served as provost of the University of Delaware. Earlier positions included vice president for research and dean of the Graduate College at the University of Vermont, as well as dean of UVM’s College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences. He previously was the Rosemary Bradford Hewlett Professor and founding director of the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College and chaired the civil and environmental engineering department at the University of Connecticut. 

He earned engineering degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (BS), Purdue University (MS), and the University of Michigan (PhD). A registered professional engineer in Connecticut and Texas, he is a diplomate of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and chaired a National Academies committee on grand challenges in environmental science and engineering. His research examines molecular-scale contaminant processes and risk-reduction techniques, and he helped establish Argentina’s first environmental engineering program through a World Bank-funded initiative. 

Past Recipients

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