CITE Graduate Appointed Environmental Protection Secretary

Stephanie Timmermeyer, M.S. Environmental Science 1997, has been appointed Environmental Protection Secretary for West Virginia.  Congratulations Stephanie! 

Stephanie states, "The graduate program in Environmental Science gave me a chance to fully explore my interest in this inter-disciplinary field and enabled me to land my first job in environmental work.  The variety of courses, as well as the full-time and adjunct professors who work every day in the fields they teach, help make the graduate program effective and dynamic."

The article below appeared in the Charleston Daily Mail March 24, 2003.

Environmental agency chief named,
Timmermeyer moves from interim to permanent post

by BRIAN BOWLING, DAILY MAIL STAFF

Gov. Bob Wise today appointed Stephanie Timmermeyer as the state's new environmental protection secretary.

Timmermeyer, the state's air quality director, has been serving as the interim environmental protection secretary since Michael Callaghan resigned as head of the state Department of Environmental Protection in January to become chairman of the state Democratic Party. She said in January that she was interested in the permanent position.

Additionally, Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, asked for the position and six environmental groups sent a letter to Wise last week asking him to appoint West Virginia University law professor Patrick McGinley to the position.

"Stephanie brings a wide variety of experience to this position," Wise said in a press release announcing the appointment. "She has been acting secretary for the past two months and has demonstrated a unique understanding for the issues affecting DEP."

Timmermeyer said was glad to receive the appointment.

"I'm looking forward to running the agency and basically taking from where Callaghan left off and working out the details from the broad plan he laid out," she said.

She said it's an exciting time to be head of the agency because the DEP will be consolidating its headquarters into a single office building in Kanawha City.

"It's going to make a big difference in how the agency runs," Timmermeyer said.

One of her first actions will be to sit down with heads of the DEP's programs and map out a plan.

Timmermeyer has named John Benedict as the state's acting air quality director. She said she plans to make a permanent appointment soon.

"He's definitely a candidate for it," she said.

Timmermeyer, 33, grew up in Bryans Road, Md. She holds a bachelor's degree in forestry from WVU, a master's in environmental science from Marshall University and a law degree from WVU.

Before becoming the state's air quality director, she worked as a right-of-way maintenance supervisor for American Electric Power Co. and an environmental consultant for Potesta & Associates. She also worked several months for Charleston law firm Spilman Thomas and Battle.

Writer Brian Bowling can be reached at 348-4842 or by e-mail at brianbowling@dailymail.com.