The American Public Works Associationâs George R.The American Public Works Associationâs George R. Crombie, MPA, was recently awarded Honorary Membership by the American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE) at the AAEE Excellence in Environmental Engineering Awards Luncheon in Washington, D.C.
The award luncheon honors distinguished people, engineering practices and research among consulting firms, public agencies and universities.
Currently, Crombie is the presidentâelect of APWA.
Crombieâs professional and educational background includes noteworthy positions in environmental, public works, and infrastructure fields. He is a Senior Faculty Member for Public Works Administration in the School of Graduate Studies at Norwich University, and he holds a Master of Public Administration from Northeastern University in Boston.
Crombie recently served as the Secretary of Environmental Affairs for the State of Vermont, and he served as Undersecretary of Environmental Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His public works directorships have included the cities and towns of Durham, N.H.; Burlington, Vt; Nashua, N.H.; and Plymouth, Mass.
Throughout his career, Crombie has guided numerous award winning public worksâenvironmental projects using a systems thinking approach that balances environmental, economic, and quality-of-life challenges. He is a member of the US EPA Climate Ready Water Utilities Working Group, and was selected by the Aspen Institute to participate in a dialogue on âSustainable Water Systems: Step OneâRedefining the Nationâs Infrastructure Challenge.â
In 2008, Public Works magazine named Crombie one of the 2008 trendsetters in the United States in spearheading development of the Climate Change Collaborative in Vermont.
He has also received a number of awards including the APWA National Charles Walter Nichols Award for outstanding meritorious achievement in the environmental field in 2001, and was named by APWA as one of the Top Ten Public Works Leaders in the U.S and Canada in 2002. Crombie has also received the
Gold Leaf Award by the International Society of Arboriculture, as well as an APWA Jennings Randolph International Fellowship to study solid waste practices in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.