The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) presented UW-Madison Professor Manny Teodoro of the La Follette School of Public Affairs with its prestigious 2025 Donald R. Boyd Award during its 2025 Executive Management Conference this fall.
AMWA, the nation’s only policymaking organization solely for metropolitan drinking water suppliers, is a leading water utility association comprising the largest publicly owned drinking water systems in the United States, which collectively provide water to more than 160 million Americans. The organization recognized Teodoro for his groundbreaking contributions to public scholarship and innovation in utility.
“I’m deeply honored by this award from AMWA. The list of Boyd Awardees reads like a who’s who of drinking water leaders: executives, politicians, and professionals who shaped the water sector over the past 40 years,” Teodoro said in a press release from UW’s La Follette School of Public Affairs. “This award reflects the value of connecting research with practice. I’m so grateful to the mentors, colleagues, and institutions who share that vision and have made my work possible.”
Teodoro was honored at the 2025 Executive Management Conference, Oct. 26-29 in Austin, Texas. His work has reshaped how the water sector approaches affordability, transparency, and governance, according to a press release, and his development of the Affordability Ratio has equipped utilities with a practical, equity-centered framework for evaluating rate structures and building public trust.
His award-winning and influential book, The Profits of Distrust, explores the relationship between public services, such as drinking water and confidence in government.
