Madison, Wis. – The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) presented 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 is a leading water utility association comprised of the largest publicly owned drinking water systems in the United States who collectively provide water to more than 160 million Americans. They recognized Teodoro for his groundbreaking contributions to public scholarship and utility innovation.
“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 forty years. 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’s work has reshaped how the water sector approaches affordability, transparency, and governance. His development of the Affordability Ratio has equipped utilities with a practical, equity-centered framework for evaluating rate structures and building public trust. Through initiatives like the Wisconsin Waterworks Excellence Project, Teodoro has made utility performance data more accessible and actionable, empowering communities and utilities alike to engage in transparent, accountable service delivery.
His award-winning and influential book, The Profits of Distrust, explores the relationship between public services like drinking water and confidence in government.
“Dr. Teodoro’s scholarship doesn’t just live in journals or classrooms, it lives in water systems, boardrooms, council chambers, and community conversations,” said AMWA CEO Tom Dobbins. “He has given our sector tools to lead with integrity and communicate with clarity. His work helps utilities measure success and share it in ways that builds trust and drives progress.”
Teodoro’s impactful scholarship spans performance-based regulations, utility management, and public engagement. Bridging academic insight with utility practice, he continues to shape national conversations around fairness, accountability, and the future of water service delivery.
AMWA is the nation’s only policymaking organization solely for metropolitan drinking water suppliers. The association was formed in 1981 by a group of general managers of metropolitan water systems who wanted to ensure that the issues of large publicly owned water suppliers would be represented in Washington, D.C.
The Donald R. Boyd Award acknowledges extraordinary personal service in the drinking water field. It commemorates Donald R. Boyd, one of AMWA’s founding members and its first president.
Teodoro was also recently named as a member of the inaugural Hydro20, a diverse group of twenty individuals “celebrated for driving change, disrupting norms, and doing good for water sustainability across the United States.” Hydro20 is an initiative of waterloop, a non-profit news outlet, in partnership with Sciens Water, a leading investment firm dedicated to water sustainability.
