Lisa Jackson

Lisa Perez Jackson (born February 8, 1962) is an American chemical engineer who served as the administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from 2009 to 2013. She was the first African American to hold that position. In 2002, Jackson joined the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as the Assistant Commissioner of Compliance and Enforcement and Assistant Commissioner for Land Use Management. New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine appointed Jackson the state’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection in 2006. Jackson also briefly served as Corzine’s Chief of Staff in late 2008. On December 15, 2008, President-elect Barack Obama nominated Jackson to serve as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 23, 2009, and took office that same day. During her tenure as EPA Administrator, Jackson oversaw the development of stricter fuel efficiency standards and the EPA’s response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill; authorized the recognition of carbon dioxide as a public health threat, granting the EPA authority to set new regulations regarding CO2 emissions; and proposed amending the National Ambient Air Quality Standards to set stricter smog pollution limits. In December 2012, Jackson announced she would step down as EPA Administrator effective February 15, 2013; she was succeeded by Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe, who served as Acting Administrator until the Senate confirmed Gina McCarthy as a permanent successor on July 18, 2013.