She’s tireless. She’s passionate. She’s outspoken. And she’s the Michigan Environmental Council’s 2007 Helen & William Milliken Distinguished Service Award winner.

Mary C. Brown’s skillful blend of visionary principles and pragmatic strategies served the environment well during her 18 years in the Michigan Legislature. It continues to impact important public policies today. That dedication, resolve and commitment to natural resource protection has earned her Michigan’s highest environmental award.

In a June 6 ceremony in her hometown of Kalamazoo, Brown will receive  the Milliken Award, the state’s highest environmental honor.

“Mary is truly one of the hardest-working, most principled people I’ve had the pleasure to be colleagues and friends with,” said MEC President Lana Pollack. “Her years in the legislature, and her time building community leaders through her work with Girl Scouts and many other civic causes, ensures she will have a lasting legacy.”

Mary’s depth of knowledge is legendary on an array of issues, including social justice, environmental stewardship and gender equity.

"There were times when she’d be questioning expert witnesses at a hearing, and it was clear she knew more about their business than they did,” said Lynn Jondahl, a former legislator and current director of Michigan Prospect. “She had her fingerprints on an awful lot of legislation.”

Her legislation included many clean air rules, said Michigan environmental historian Dave Dempsey. It also included many other protections for the health of Michiganders and the preservation of the state’s natural grandeur.

Jondahl said her hands-on reputation became legendary among her colleagues in the State House. They knew exactly what to do when unfamiliar legislation came up for a hurried vote: Ask Mary, she’ll know all about it.

Retirement from the legislature changed the venue where she practices her particular brand of activism but not her tenacious approach.

Her lifelong passion for working with the Girl Scouts continues. She also has been on the boards of the state YMCA and the Michigan Environmental Council, serves on the board of the American Lung Association of Michigan and is chair of its Clean Air Committee. She is a founding member of the Kalamazoo Environmental Council and the Coalition for Urban Redevelopment in Kalamazoo. She is also a member of the state’s Natural Resources Commission.

A graduate of Midland High School, she attended Albion College and Syracuse University, where she received a bachelor’s degree in recreation and a master’s in education.

She and her husband, Donald, a retired chemistry professor, have lived in Kalamazoo since 1960. They have three grown children.