UWF Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business and Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola name 2025 Ethics in Business Award Recipients

The University of West Florida Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business and the Combined Rotary Clubs of Pensacola named Martha D. Saunders and Kevin Green as the 2025 recipients of the annual Ethics in Business Award during the 23rd Combined Rotary Luncheon at the Pensacola Yacht Club.

The Ethics in Business Award recognizes individuals who exemplify the concept of “service above self” and work to build a positive sense of self-worth within both the business community and the broader community as a whole. Criteria for the award include adherence to the high ethical standards of honesty, integrity and consistency in dealing with employees, contractors and customers, while positively enhancing the economic well-being of the firm’s stakeholders and providing jobs, opportunities and profits.

Saunders, president of the University of West Florida, was awarded the winner of the large business sector, or organizations with 50 or more employees. Since taking the helm at UWF in 2017, Saunders has elevated the University to regional and national prominence. Under her leadership, UWF has reached new heights — from record enrollment numbers and top-tier rankings in U.S. News & World Report to the prestigious Community Engagement Classification honor from the Carnegie Foundation. UWF has also achieved the designation of a Research 2 university, a marker of its expanding impact and excellence. UWF has been named “Great College to Work For,” for six years under Saunders’ leadership. Saunders holds more than 30 years of experience in higher education and is an academic expert in public relations and crisis communication, earning numerous awards, including two coveted Silver Anvils from the Public Relations Society of America.

“This award is a huge honor for which I am very grateful,” Saunders said. “It puts me in the company of some of the most outstanding leaders I have ever known. In our business, every decision we make is a chance to do the right thing. I’m proud to live in a community that values service and integrity.”

Green, winner of the small division, owns and operates The Butcher Shoppe, located on Langley Avenue in Pensacola. The business has been open for 18 years. Green has supported the Rotary Club’s signature fundraiser, Burger Battle by the Bay, for nearly a decade by donating hundreds of pounds of meat and thousands of dollars in gift certificates for the event over the years. The annual burger cooking competition is held in the spring to raise funds for Take Stock in Children and the Subwest Rotary Foundation.

“I am honored and humbled to receive this award,” Green said. “I’ve always looked up to things the Rotary stands for and try to operate my business with those same core values.”

For more information about the UWF Lewis Bear Jr. College of Business, visit uwf.edu/lbjcob.