Ruckelshaus to Speak at Moritz Sept. 18
Interim Dean Alan C. Michaels would like to invite you to a lecture, “Lawyers as Leaders - If Not You, Who?” presented by William D. Ruckelshaus. Ruckelshaus is the former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The lecture will be presented Thursday, Sept. 18 at noon in Saxbe Auditorium at the Moritz College of Law, 55 W. 12th Ave., Columbus.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP by Monday, Sept. 15 to Darnell Hines at hines.127@osu.edu or (614) 247-8640. Parking is available at the South Gateway Garage, which is accessible via East 11th or East 9th avenues.
The College is pleased to welcome such a distinguished public servant. Ruckelshaus, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has held “a series of important administrative positions” in the federal government, according to his biography on the EPA’s web site.
According to the site: “He was called to Washington at the start of President Richard Nixon's first term and assumed the duties of assistant U.S. attorney general for the Civil Division, overseeing all civil litigation involving the federal government. Meantime, in spring 1970, rumors circulated in Washington that the president's Executive Council on Reorganization -- which was reviewing all aspects of executive branch structure for the new administration -- would recommend the unification of federal environmental activity in a single governmental institution. One week after the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, the council urged Mr. Nixon to form an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The president approved the suggestion and initiated the planning process in the White House. While the first by-product, known as Reorganization Plan Number 3, underwent congressional scrutiny during summer 1970, many names vied as candidates for EPA administrator. Ruckelshaus was mentioned often and his boss, Attorney General John Mitchell, broached the matter with him. About one month after Ruckelshaus confirmed his willingness to serve, Mitchell nominated him to the president, who accepted him for the position.”
Ruckelshaus held the position for 2 ½ years, when he left to become the acting FBI director. He also spent a short period as deputy attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice. Ruckelshaus left government in 1973 and worked for a law firm in Washington, D.C., before he accepted a position as senior vice president of the Weyerhaeuser Company in Seattle. He stayed there until 1983, when he was asked to return to the EPA. Ruckelshaus spent nearly two years at the EPA restoring the organization. According to the EPA web site: “… when Ruckelshaus left EPA, he did so with a sense of satisfaction. He had filled the top-level positions with persons of competence, turned the attention of the staff back to the mission and raised the esteem of the agency in the public mind.”
To read Ruckelshaus’ complete online biography, visit http://www.epa.gov/history/publications/ruck/02.htm
