Alumni awards
Our alumni are changing the world
Each year, we recognize alumni for their highly significant contributions to addressing today’s sustainability challenges and celebrate their long-lasting impact on the Stanford community and on the world.
2025 Recipients
Please join us at this year’s Alumni Awards Reception on Oct. 17, 2025,
during Reunion/Homecoming weekend, to celebrate these remarkable alumni.
Jan Pepper, ’76, MBA ’81
Distinguished Alumni Award
With more than 30 years of energy and utility experience, Jan Pepper, ’76 (Civil Engineering), MBA ’81, is the founder of 4 energy-related start-ups, and was the founding CEO of Peninsula Clean Energy from 2016 to 2023. During her tenure there, she advanced the forward-looking goal of delivering 100% renewable energy on a 24/7 basis at no additional cost. With a legacy of industry-leading innovations, her other ventures include APX, where she developed and implemented the first use of renewable energy credits, now the standard currency for trading and tracking renewable power; and Clean Power Markets, which designed and implemented the Solar Renewable Energy Credit program for the state of New Jersey. Pepper served 8 years on the Los Altos City Council and was the mayor in 2015 and 2020. In 2017, she was named Green Power Leader of the Year by the U.S. EPA and the Center for Resource Solutions. She is currently a visiting scholar at the Precourt Institute for Energy.
Narasimha D. Rao, PhD ’11
Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award
The 2025 Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award recipient is Narasimha D. Rao, PhD ’11 (E-IPER), a Professor of Energy Systems at the Yale School of the Environment. His research examines the relationship between energy systems, human development, and climate change. He leads Decent Living Energy, which quantifies the energy needs and climate impacts of eradicating poverty around the world by blending rigorous economics and engineering with ethical analysis. It aims to identify opportunities to shift developing societies towards low-carbon pathways, reveal inequities in energy provision within countries, and provide insights on developing countries’ claims to equitable access to sustainable development. Rao received his Masters in Technology Policy and Electrical Engineering from MIT.
Past Recipients
- Jane Woodward, MS ’82, MBA ’87, Distinguished Alumni Award 2024
- Kristen Averyt, PhD ’05, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2024
- George Steinmetz, BS ’79, Distinguished Alumni Award 2023
- Mehana Blaich Vaughan, PhD ’12, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2023
- Mary Lou Zoback, BS ’74, MS ’75, PhD ’78, Distinguished Alumni Award 2022
- Robert Kabera, BS ’11, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2022
- Naomi Oreskes, PhD ’90, Distinguished Alumni Award 2021
- Julia Rosen, BS ’05, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2021
- Mike Ming, BS ’80, MS ’87, Distinguished Alumni Award 2020
- Nick Halla, MS ’11, MBA ’11, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2020
- Bradford Mills, BS ’77, MS ’79, Distinguished Alumni Award 2019
- Xyoli Pérez-Campo, MS ’99, PhD ’02, Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award 2019
- Lawrence W. Funkhouser, MS ’48, Distinguished Alumni Award 2018
- Jessica Watkins, BS ’10, Early- to Mid-Career Award 2018
- George A. Thompson, PhD ’49, Distinguished Alumni Award 2017
- Edgar Rangel-German, MS ’98, PhD ’03, Early- to Mid-Career Award 2017
- Robert G. Coleman, PhD ’57, Distinguished Alumni Award 2016
- William R. Dickinson, BS ’52, MS ’56, PhD ’58, Distinguished Alumni Award 2015
Submit a nomination today
Early- to Mid-Career Alumni Award Distinguished Alumni Award