Sanjay Sharma, Dean of the Grossman School of Business at UVM, received the 2026 GRONEN Founders Award at this year’s GRONEN Conference, a global gathering of leading scholars focused on organizations and the natural environment. The award honors Sharma’s role in founding the Group for Research Organizations and the Natural Environment (GRONEN) and his lasting impact on the field over more than two decades.
Launched in 2004, GRONEN has grown from an ambitious idea into a vibrant international scholarly community spanning more than 100 universities. Known for its rigorous and highly collaborative environment, the biennial conference convenes leading researchers in an intentionally small, collegial setting that fosters deep dialogue, mentorship, and innovation. Today, GRONEN is widely recognized as a premier forum for advancing research at the intersection of business and sustainability.
As GRONEN President Nicole Darnall shared, the vision behind that first convening “set in motion something truly extraordinary,” building a global network designed to address complex sustainability challenges through interdisciplinary scholarship and collaboration. She noted that Sharma recognized early on that these challenges require not only strong research, but also a community capable of learning across institutions, countries, and generations.
Sharma shares this recognition with longtime collaborator J. Alberto Aragón‑Correa. Together, their leadership helped establish GRONEN as a “vibrant, member-based association” that continues to expand its global reach and impact while maintaining its core values of rigor, inclusivity, and collegial exchange.
Beyond founding GRONEN, Sharma’s research has played a defining role in shaping sustainability and environmental management as a central area of business scholarship. His work has challenged organizations to consider the strategic implications of environmental issues and helped move sustainability from the margins of management research to its center. Equally important, his leadership has created pathways for doctoral students and junior faculty to develop, connect, and thrive.
“Finding ways in which businesses can compete successfully while leading financial, environmental, and social metrics has driven my research,” said Sharma. “This recognition also reflects the importance of building the field by creating opportunities for emerging scholars through communities like GRONEN.”
Few individuals have contributed significantly to both the intellectual foundation and the collaborative fabric of sustainability management scholarship. As Darnall reflected, Sharma has shaped not only the field itself, but the people within it.
Beyond founding GRONEN, Sharma’s contributions to the field date back more than three decades. In the early 1990s, he co-founded the Organizations and the Natural Environment Division at the Academy of Management—an initiative that helped formally establish sustainability and environmental management as a recognized area of business scholarship. His pioneering research during this period laid critical groundwork for the field, challenging organizations to consider the strategic implications of environmental issues and helping move sustainability from the margins of management research to its center. Equally important, his leadership has created pathways for doctoral students and junior faculty to develop, connect, and thrive.
Dean Sharma’s leadership continues to influence how organizations approach sustainability and has helped position the Grossman School of Business at UVM as a hub for research, teaching, and impact in this critical space.
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Vermont Business Magazine