Former governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman will speak at 7 p.m., Jan. 25, 2018, as part of the Berry College Cecil B. Wright III Integrity in Leadership lecture series.
Her lecture “Women, Leadership, Power and Politics: Overcoming Obstacles,” will be in the Krannert Ballroom and is free and open to the public.
Whitman is the President of The Whitman Strategy Group (WSG), a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues. WSG offers a comprehensive set of solutions to problems facing businesses, organizations, and governments; they have been at the forefront of helping leading companies find innovative solutions to environmental challenges.
Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001.
As Governor, she earned praise from both Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as permanent green space. She was also recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council as having instituted the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. As EPA Administrator, she promoted common-sense environmental improvements such as watershed-based water protection policies. She championed regulations requiring non-road diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 95 percent. During her tenure, the Agency was successful in passing and implementing landmark brownfields legislation to promote the redevelopment and reuse of “brownfields”, previously contaminated industrial sites.
She is the author of a New York Times best seller called “It’s My Party Too”, which was published in January of 2005 and released in paperback in March 2006.
Whitman serves on the Board of Directors of United Technologies Corporation, and she formerly served on the Boards of Texas Instruments Inc. and S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc. She is a member of Terrestrial Energy’s International Advisory Board and holds an Executive Masters Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors. She is on the Advisory Boards of the Corporate Eco Forum and The Northeast Maglev.
Whitman also serves a number of non-profit organizations including as Chairman of the American Security Project and Vice-Chairman of the Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Center for Responsible Shale Development and she co-chairs the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative Leadership Council. She serves as an advisor to the Aspen Rodel Fellowship program and on the O’Connor Judicial Selection Advisory Committee at the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System. She is a member of the Senior Advisory Committee of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University and a member of the National Advisory Committees for the Women’s Coalition for Common Sense and the Presidential Climate Action Project. She is also a member of the Board of Trustees of The National WWII Museum. At the museum, Whitman, along with her family and friends, established the John R. Whitman Normandy Scholars Fund to honor his legacy.
In 2017, Whitman was awarded The Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service. Prior to becoming Governor, she was the President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and served on the Somerset County board of Chosen Freeholders.
Whitman holds a B.A. from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and was married for 41 years to the late John R. Whitman. She has two children and seven grandchildren.
The Cecil B. Wright III Integrity in Leadership Lecture Series is named for Berry alumnus and trustee Cecil B. ""Buster"" Wright III in honor of his role as a force behind the Center for Integrity in Leadership and its mentoring program, his financial commitments and his personal character.
Written by Public Relations
