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EPA Announces Regional Administrator for Region 6 - Regional Agency Headquarters in Dallas

Release Date: 11/05/2009
Contact Information: Dave Bary at 214-665-2200 or r6press@epa.gov

(Dallas, Texas – November 5, 2009) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced President Barack Obama’s selection of Dr. Alfredo “Al” Armendariz to be the Agency’s Regional Administrator for EPA’s region 6. This region encompasses Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma and 66 Tribal Nations.

"I look forward to working closely with Al Armendariz on the range of urgent environmental issues we face, in region 6 and across the nation," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "At this moment of great challenge and even greater opportunity, I'm thrilled that Al will be part of our leadership team at EPA. He will certainly play an instrumental role in our Agency's mission to protect our health and the environment."

Regional Administrators are responsible for managing the Agency’s regional activities under the direction of the EPA Administrator. They promote state and local environmental protection efforts and serve as a liaison to state and local government officials. Regional Administrators are tasked with ensuring EPA's efforts to address the environmental crises of today are rooted in three fundamental values: science-based policies and programs, adherence to the rule of law, and transparency.

Dr. Alfredo “Al” Armendariz is an Associate Professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he has taught environmental and civil engineering. For the past 15 years, Armendariz has worked in a variety of research and academic positions and has published several research papers. After college, he worked as a research assistant at the MIT Center for Global Change Science at their Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory in Massachusetts. He later joined Radian Corporation in North Carolina as a chemical engineer and in 2002 he joined the faculty at Southern Methodist University and also spent a summer on special assignment to EPA’s Dallas office as an Environmental Scientist. At Southern Methodist University he’s received several outstanding faculty awards and was selected as a Royster Society Fellow at the University of North Carolina. Armendariz received his S.B. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), received his M.E. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida and his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

More about activities in EPA Region 6: https://www.epa.gov/region6

EPA audio file is available at https://www.epa.gov/region6/6xa/podcast/nov2009.html