Judith E. Ayres
EPA Assistant Administrator for International Affairs
Judith E. Ayres, Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [USEPA] for International Affairs, was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate in August 2001. In this capacity, she serves as advisor to the EPA Administrator on international affairs and oversees programs in over 50 countries as well as initiatives on trade and investment as pursuant to the Trade Promotion Authority Act. She leads official EPA delegations globally addressing environmental issues, negotiates bilateral agreements on the environment with foreign governments and international financial institutions, and represents the United States on the environment at the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a multilateral forum of 29 nations and the European Union. She also oversees EPA environmental programs with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and numerous environmental initiatives with the United Nations. She meets regularly with the international business community and international nongovernmental organizations to further collaboration on environmental issues.
In prior government service, Ms. Ayres served as an appointee of USEPA Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus as Regional Administrator (1983-1988) of EPA Region 9 (California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, and the Western Protectorates).
Ms. Ayres' career spans both the public and private sectors. She headed The Environmental Group and served as Vice-President of William D. Ruckelshaus Associates, both domestic and international environmental consulting firms. She served on the personal staff of the Secretary of the Interior, headed major communication offices in Alaska, and worked as a legislative liaison in Washington, D.C. She also served on the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council Advisory Committee, the San Francisco Bay Conservation Development Commission, and the State of California's Unified Environmental Statute Commission.
Ms. Ayres has held seats on the boards of several corporations and institutions which include MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, Inc.[NYSE], ESCO Corporation of Portland Oregon, California Environmental Trust, Global Asset Management Fund, and Pacific Forest Trust. She also served on the advisory boards of Reidel Corporation, National Energy Associates, and the Women’s Leadership Committee of Harvard University.
After earning her undergraduate degree in zoology and physiology at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, she pursued graduate study in England and Japan. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University, with a focus on energy and environmental policy.
She now lives with her family in Middleburg, Virginia.