Alumnus Appointed to EPA Advisory Council

Photo: James H. Johnson, Ph.D., reviews a student's architectural design while serving as Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences at Howard University.
 

CEE alumnus James H. Johnson Jr. (MS 70) has been appointed chair of the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) by U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.  The council is an independent committee that advises the agency on a broad range of environmental policy, technology, and management issues. Johnson is the first African-American to serve as chair of the committee.

Johnson is Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering and former Dean of the College of Engineering, Architecture, and Computer Sciences at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He previously served the university as chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Interim Associate Vice President for Research.  His research interests include the treatment and disposal of hazardous substances, the evaluation of minority environmental policy issues, and the development of environmental curricula and strategies to increase the pool of under-represented groups in the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines.

From 1996-2002, Johnson oversaw the activities of the Engineering Coalition of Schools for Excellence and Leadership in Education, a National Science Foundation-funded consortium. From 1989-2002, he was the associate director of the EPA-sponsored Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic Center for Hazardous Substance Research. Previous service to EPA includes six years on both the Science Advisory Board and the Board of Scientific Counselors, where he served as chair for two years.

Johnson is currently a member of the National Research Council’s Division of Earth and Life Sciences Oversight Committee, and chair of the Anne Arundel Community College Board of Trustees in Maryland. In addition, he serves on several university, private sector, and research center advisory committees. He has published more than 60 scholarly articles, contributed to three books and co-edited two books.

Johnson received his B.S. from Howard University, M.S. from the University of Illinois, and Ph.D. from the University of Delaware.