Former Environmental Protection Agency chiefs Carol Browner and William Reilly to present the first Sesquicentennial Environmental Initiative Lecture

Former EPA administrators Carol Browner and William Reilly will deliver the first Sesquicentennial Environmental Initiative Lecture at 3 p.m., Friday, October 3. The lecture, which focuses on politics and the environment, is free and open to the public and will be held in Graham Chapel, located just north of Mallinckrodt Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd., on the Washington University campus.

During its Sesquicentennial year, Washington University is launching an initiative to help better understand the role that research universities can play in addressing issues related to the environment. This project represents the beginning of an environmental initiative that will shape the educational programs, research, and operations of the University related to the environment, and will become one of the defining interdisciplinary programs at the University.

Carol Browner is the longest serving administrator in the history of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She received the appointment from President Bill Clinton in January 1993, and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. During her tenure, she partnered with business leaders, community advocates, and all levels of government heads to promote common sense, cost-effective solutions to the nation’s most pressing environmental and public health challenges. She successfully built broad bi-partisan support in Congress to pass two pivotal modern environmental laws – the landmark Food Quality Protection Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Browner’s career in public service spans more than two decades and she has received numerous honors and distinctions, including the prestigious President’s Award from the American Lung Association, Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year Award, and the Audubon Society’s Guy M. Bradley Lifetime Achievement Award. Currently, she is a principal of the Albright Group, a global strategy firm that assists clients in forging relationships with governments, businesses and organizations.

William Reilly has long been at the forefront of global conservation. Except for four years with the EPA, Reilly has been associated with the World Wildlife Fund, the preeminent international conservation organization, and its predecessor organization for 25 years.

As EPA director from 1989 to 1993, he championed integration of the nation’s environmental and economic agendas, earning praise and respect from Republicans and Democrats alike. Reilly played a pivotal role at the EPA in crafting and securing passage of a new Clean Air bill in 1990, breaking a 10-year stalemate in reauthorizing the Clean Air Act.

He continues his commitment to the environment as founder and Chief Executive Officer of an investment group, Aqua International Partners, that funds water purification in developing nations. In this capacity, Reilly fuses environmental interests with sound business practices.

A second Environmental Initiative program, concentrating on science and the environment, will be presented at 3 p.m. on Thursday, October 9. Speakers include Nobel laureate Mario Molina, who has a joint appointment in chemistry and in earth, atmospheric and planetary sciences at MIT, and Oregon State University environmental ecologist and marine biologist Jane Lubchenco.

For more information on the Assembly Series lecture, call (314) 935-4620 or visit the Assembly Series web page (wupa.wustl.edu/assembly).