SB'25 San Diego is open for registration! Sign up by January 1st to lock in the pre-launch price!

Gregory Unruh

Sustainability Editor
MIT Sloan

Dr. Gregory C. Unruh is the Arison Professor of Values Leadership at George Mason University in the Washington DC Metro area, and the Sustainability Editor for the MIT Sloan Management Review.

His book, The Biosphere Rules: Nature’s Five Circularity Secrets for Sustainable Profits, can be found at https://www.globalleadershipacademy.com/. He is author of the Harvard Business Press books Being Global: How to Think, Act and Lead in a Transformed World and Earth, Inc.: Using Nature's Rules to Build Sustainable Profits, as well as numerous articles published in Harvard Business Review, Forbes and the Huffington Post.

Gregory Unruh is tagged in 12 assets.
Article
The Biosphere Rules: Sustainability Is a Destination, Not a Journey

Envision a future where every material thing in our world is made out of a handful of materials, carefully selected to be safe, healthy and infinitely recyclable. Everything from coffee cup to countertop could be broken down and used as raw materials... View More

Article
The Biosphere’s Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 6: Function Over Form

Sustainability experts for decades have been exhorting managers to focus more on the function their products deliver and less on the product itself. Biosphere Rule #5, Function Over Form, is focused on fulfilling customers’ functional needs in ways... View More

Article
The Biosphere’s Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 5: Sustainable Product Platforms

Biosphere Rule #4 is about taking your value cycle, built with parsimonious materials and a power-autonomous energy system, and creating a production platform upon which you can build a whole suite of products — producing profit-amplifying economie... View More

Article
The Biosphere’s Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 4: Power Autonomy

Nature has discovered that if you want to sustain your value cycles for billions of years, they need to run on free flows of solar energy. Our products and processes need to do the same. ... View More

Article
Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 3: Value Cycling

The model we use to teach MBAs about production is the value chain. But there's a problem: It imagines a linear world in which materials can be constantly pushed through an assembly line with no consequence. ... View More

Article
Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 2: Materials Parsimony

The amazing diversity of life is founded on dramatic materials parsimony; almost everything in nature is built out of just four elements. Whereas, what we humans have gotten since the Industrial Revolution is materials proliferation. ... View More

Article
Foolproofing Sustainability with the ‘Biosphere Rules’

Remediation has had some successes. But you can’t remediate an extinct species, an acidified ocean or a climate that’s pushed beyond its critical tipping point. What we need to be doing is “premediation." ... View More

Article
Could Doubling Down on Geomimicry Save Us from Climate Disaster?

This is the final post in a four-part series on geomimicry by renowned author and George Mason University professor Dr. Gregory C. Unruh. Read parts one, two and three. ... View More

Article
Geomimicry: Reversing the Great Sequestration

This is the third in a four-part series on geomimicry by renowned author and George Mason University professor Dr. Gregory C. Unruh. Read parts one and two. ... View More

Article
The Earth's Circular Economy: Not a Practical Solution to Our Waste Issues

This is the second in a four-part series on geomimicry by renowned author and George Mason University professor Dr. Gregory C. Unruh. Read part one here. ... View More

Article
Mimicking Nature, But Not as Nature Intended: An Introduction to Geomimicry

This is the first in a series of posts by Dr. Gregory Unruh about geomimicry and its implications for sustainability. ... View More

Article
Lessons from Spirituality, Nature and Business on the Meaning of Purpose and How to Activate It

The purpose of business is changing. While historically, business students have been taught that the purpose of business solely is to increase investors’ profits — known as the Friedman Doctrine — the most successful brands are searching for a ... View More

Upcoming Events

October 13-16, 2025
SB'25 San Diego
US Event
More Information

March 18-19, 2025
SB'25 Tokyo Marunouchi
More Information

April 9-10, 2025
SB Member Network: Accelerating Good Growth Spring Member Meeting
Member Event
More Information