William K. Reilly
William Kane Reilly (born January 26, 1940) was Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George H. W. Bush. He has served as president of World Wildlife Fund, as a founder or advisor to several business ventures, and on many boards of directors. In 2010, he was appointed by President Barack Obama co-chair of the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling to investigate the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
For the English thriller writer who used this pen name, see John Creasey.
William Reilly
Position established
Position abolished
Libbie Buxton
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Early life, military service and education[edit]
Born on January 26, 1940, in Decatur, Illinois, into a conservative, deeply religious family, Reilly was strongly influenced by his father, a highway construction steel merchant. Reilly's father moved his family from Illinois to South Texas when Reilly was 10. From the Rio Grande Valley, the Reillys moved to Fall River, Massachusetts, where he finished high school at Durfee High School.
He subsequently attended Yale University, where he earned an A.B. in history. During his Yale years, Reilly took advantage of the junior year abroad program to study in France. Reilly then earned a LL.B. from Harvard Law School, completing a thesis on land reform in Chile.
After law school, Reilly entered the United States Army and served a tour of duty during 1966 and 1967 as a captain[1] in Europe with an intelligence unit planning for the evacuation of U.S. troops from France. During that time, he married Elizabeth "Libbie" Buxton.
After completing military service, Reilly returned to school and received a master's degree in urban planning at Columbia University.
Early career[edit]
In 1968, fresh from planning school and a four-month project in Turkey, Reilly went to work for Urban America, Inc., where he worked to integrate century-old concerns for urban beautification, an issue which had been brought to the forefront of the American conscience by the civil rights movement - concerns which would grow into the environmental justice movement which he dealt with when he was at the EPA.
In 1970, during the Nixon Administration, Reilly became a senior staff member of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) under Russell Train, who would later become the second EPA Administrator in 1972.
Reilly moved from CEQ to become President of The Conservation Foundation, which merged with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in 1985. After the merger, he served as President of World Wildlife Fund until taking over as administrator at the EPA in 1989.
Awards[edit]
In November, 2011, Reilly received[13] the Vincent Scully Prize at the National Building Museum[14] for "his commitment to smart environmental planning, comprehensive land use and preservation of open space".[15]
Personal life[edit]
Reilly is married to the former Elizabeth Bennett "Libbie" Buxton. They have two daughters, Katherine Buxton Reilly and Margaret Mahalah Reilly.