Hanley Sustainability Institute
UD graduate, expert in the field to speak during Sustainability Week
By Mark Gokavi
Just a few years before he became the CEO and co-founder of The Greenlink Group Inc., Matt Cox was a student finding sustainability solutions at the University of Dayton. In October, he’ll return to give the keynote address during Sustainability Week and have an open house with faculty and staff.
Cox, a 2008 graduate from Centerville, majored in environmental biology and helped develop programs on UD’s campus such as adopting green-friendly cleaning products, replacing incandescent bulbs, expanding recycling, adding composting, eliminating Styrofoam and developing a savings spreadsheet around the implementation of low-flow showerheads.
Cox’s free, public talk is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, in the Sears Recital Hall inside the Jesse Philips Humanities Center. In the centerpiece event of the Oct. 20-26 Sustainability Week, Cox will discuss energy and climate, policy, equity, economics, government, entrepreneurship and starting a non-profit.
On Monday, Oct. 21 from 2 to 4 p.m in Kettering Labs Room 505, Cox will talk exclusively with UD staff and faculty members interested in sustainability.
At Greenlink, Cox works with the firm's energy and resource analysis software tools to inform planning and policy decisions across the United States and worldwide.
As a consultant, he focuses on energy efficiency strategies, renewable energy deployment and integration. Cox is the author of more than 60 scientific publications on energy policy, renewable energy, energy efficiency, economic development and job creation, the social and environmental impacts of energy use, and water policy.
Before founding Greenlink, Cox was the building energy efficiency program manager for the city of Atlanta, where he oversaw a 20 percent improvement in building energy and led initiatives anticipated to reduce commercial building emissions by 50 percent within 10 years.
After graduating from UD, Cox earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology and was a partner in a consulting firm.
For more information on UD Sustainability Week events, contact Emily Shanahan at shanahane1@udayton.edu or Ummiya Chaudhary at chaudharyu1@udayton.edu.