Rick Ridgeway
AMES, Iowa -- Rick Ridgeway — environmentalist, mountaineer, writer, filmmaker and Patagonia executive — will present the Murray Bacon Center for Business Ethics Lecture at Iowa State University on Thursday, Feb. 2.
"Good for Business, Good for the Planet" will be at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Great Hall. Ridgeway's lecture is free and open to the public. A reception with light refreshments will immediately follow his remarks.
Ridgeway is vice president of public engagement at Patagonia, a high-performance outerwear maker whose mission to protect and preserve the environment is at the core of its business operations. In 2016, Patagonia pledged to donate every cent of its Black Friday profits — $10 million — to grassroots environmental organizations working to protect natural resources including water, air and soil.
Ridgeway has held several leadership roles at Patagonia during his long history with the company. He is responsible for many of the company's key sustainability initiatives, including the Footprint Chronicles, designed to bring transparency to the supply chain; Worn Wear, which encourages reduced consumption through its repair-and-recycle program; and the Responsible Economy Campaign.
In addition, Ridgeway co-founded the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, whose Higg Index helps quantify sustainability and set industry benchmarks for reducing environmental impacts. Patagonia's many other practices include donating 1 percent of its sales to green causes, collaborating to develop new materials and technologies that reduce the industry's carbon footprint, and protecting wildlife corridors across North America and globally.
Recognized as one of the world’s foremost mountaineers and adventurers, Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was on the 1978 team of the first Americans to summit K2, the world's second-highest mountain. He also has produced and directed several documentary films and written dozens of magazine articles and six books, including "Seven Summits," "The Shadow of Kilimanjaro" and "Below Another Sky." National Geographic recently honored him with its “Lifetime Achievement in Adventure” award.
Ridgeway's presentation is co-sponsored by the College of Business, Green Umbrella, Murray Bacon Center for Business Ethics, and the Committee on Lectures, which is funded by Student Government.
More information on ISU lectures is available online, or by calling 515-294-9935.
