Press Release - President Biden Announces Key Nominations

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve in key roles:

• Mary Lu Jordan, Nominee for Commissioner of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
• Susan Harthill, Nominee for Commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
• Joseph DeCarolis, Nominee for the Energy Information Administration Administrator at the Department of Energy
• Maria Robinson, Nominee for the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Electricity at the Department of Energy
• Christopher Frey, Nominee for Assistant Administrator for the Office and Research and Development at the Environmental Protection Agency
• Erik D. Ramanathan, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Sweden
• Michael M. Adler, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Belgium
• Calvin Smyre, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Dominican Republic

Mary Lu Jordan, Nominee for Commissioner of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Mary Jordan was appointed as a Commissioner on the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission in 1994 and has served in that capacity almost continuously since then. She has served as Chair of the Commission from 1994 to 2001, from 2009 to 2014, and from 2015 to 2017. Her most recent term as Commissioner ended on August 30, 2020 and since then she has served as Senior Attorney-Advisor at the Commission.

Ms. Jordan was employed as Senior Staff Attorney at the United Mine Workers of America from 1977 to 1994. She is a graduate of Saint Bonaventure University and Antioch Law School and is a member of the New York and D.C. Bar.

Susan Harthill, Nominee for Commissioner of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
Susan Harthill represents employers in the full range of employment law and Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) matters, with a focus on counseling, compliance, litigation, and audits and investigations. Ms. Harthill advises employers on statutory and regulatory compliance and conducts trainings, including harassment and discrimination training. Before joining Morgan Lewis, Ms. Harthill served as deputy solicitor for national operations at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), where she oversaw the legal activities performed for all DOL programs in the National Office by attorneys in all 10 program divisions.

While at DOL, Ms. Harthill worked with the national office divisions and the solicitor of labor to provide centralized legal services for all DOL agencies, including litigation and regulatory advice, and to coordinate with the U.S .Department of Justice, including the solicitor general's office and in cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to joining DOL in 2014, Ms. Harthill was a tenured law professor, and was formerly special counsel in the Washington, DC, headquarters of a large international law firm. As a law professor, she taught courses in employment law and employment discrimination, civil procedure, evidence, and trusts and estates.

Ms. Harthill has published law review articles on ERISA, workplace bullying, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. She has frequently presented her work at national and international conferences, including a presentation on the topic of workplace bullying at the International Labor Organization. Throughout her career Ms. Harthill has been active in numerous pro bono matters and other service activities, including serving as a loaned associate from her law firm to the Legal Aid Society of Washington, DC; a two-term appointment as a commissioner on the Jacksonville Human Rights Commission; and a volunteer board membership for a domestic violence shelter in St. Johns County, Florida.

Joseph DeCarolis, Nominee for the Energy Information Administration Administrator at the Department of Energy
Joseph F. DeCarolis is a Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. His research addresses energy issues at the intersection of engineering, economics, and public policy. He leads the development of next-generation energy system modeling tools that are open source, transparent, and designed to deliver policy-relevant insights. Dr. DeCarolis currently co-leads an ambitious open source modeling effort involving a large multi-institutional research team. He also leads an interdisciplinary faculty cluster at NC State focused on sustainable energy and established a university-wide Energy Collaborative.

Prior to joining NC State, Dr. DeCarolis was an environmental scientist within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Research and Development where his research examined the air quality impacts of future energy system development. He received his Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and a B.A. from Clark University in Physics and Environmental Science & Policy.

Maria Robinson, Nominee for the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Electricity at the Department of Energy
Maria Duaime Robinson is serving her second term in the Massachusetts House of Representatives where she was elected as the first Korean-American legislator in 2018. She leads the House side of the Clean Energy Caucus, serves as the Massachusetts state lead to the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators where she is on the board, and is the only state legislator on the U.S. EPA Clean Air Act Advisory Committee. Prior to her election, she led Advanced Energy Economy's Wholesale Markets Program, including engagement at FERC and the regional transmission organizations. Previously, she focused on regulatory issues relating to energy and air, leading policy efforts in over two dozen states across the country. Earlier in her career, she was with Navigant Consulting in the renewable energy and energy efficiency practice, working with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in analyzing and procuring contractors for statewide solar and energy efficiency projects under the 2009 Recovery Act. She holds an S.B. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters of Jurisprudence in Energy Law from the University of Tulsa. She is currently a lecturer at Tufts University's School of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy and is a lifetime Girl Scout after earning her Silver Award.

Christopher Frey, Nominee for Assistant Administrator for the Office and Research and Development at the Environmental Protection Agency
Dr. H. Christopher Frey is the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Science Policy in the Office of Research and Development as an appointee of the Biden/Harris administration. At EPA, Dr. Frey is a champion of scientific integrity and the role of science to inform decision-making. He is leading scientific and technical research on Administration priorities, including climate change, environmental justice, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and lead; he is also promoting the advancement of innovative scientific methods and approaches. Prior to joining EPA, Dr. Frey was the Glenn E. and Phyllis J. Futrell Distinguished University Professor at North Carolina State University, where he served on the faculty since 1994. His research includes measurement and modeling of human exposure to air pollution, measurement and modeling of vehicle emissions, and applications of probabilistic and sensitivity analysis methods to emissions estimation, risk assessment, and technology assessment. He has extensive prior service with the EPA. Dr. Frey was an AAAS/EPA Environmental Science and Engineering Fellow in 1992. He served as exposure modeling advisor in ORD's National Exposure Research Laboratory from 2006 to 2007. He was a member of the EPA FIFRA Scientific Advisory Panel (2004 to 2006), a member of the EPA Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) (2008 to 2012), chair of CASAC (2012 to 2015), and a member of the EPA Science Advisory Board (2012 to 2018). He was a member of the CASAC Particulate Matter Review Panel that was dismissed in 2018; under his leadership, the panel reconvened as the Independent Particulate Matter Review Panel.

Dr. Frey is a prominent scholar and leader in environmental science and engineering. Dr. Frey has a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Virginia, a master of engineering in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and Ph.D. in engineering and public policy from Carnegie Mellon.

Erik D. Ramanathan, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Sweden
Erik D. Ramanathan is Chairman of the Board of Heluna Health, a national public health non-profit serving more than 80 million Americans with over 500 programs addressing population health and community resilience issues including maternal and child health, nutrition, literacy, supportive housing, infectious disease, addiction, and front-line and supportive efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. He was previously Executive Director of the Harvard Law School Program on the Legal Profession, following his role as Senior Vice President - General Counsel of ImClone Systems, a public biotechnology company. Ramanathan has also held major leadership roles on the non-profit boards of New Politics Leadership Academy, Shady Hill School, and Immigration Equality. Earlier in his career, he was a health care attorney with Proskauer Rose LLP. Ramanathan earned a B.A. at Johns Hopkins University and a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School. He has been an LGBTQ+ community leader for more than three decades and is the recipient of honors including the Global Vision Award for service to the LGBTQ+ and HIV+ immigrant and asylee communities.

Michael M. Adler, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Belgium
Michael M. Adler is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Adler Group, Inc., one of South Florida's largest real estate companies. Adler has played a significant role in the growth and development of South Florida as a major center for international trade. Adler Group, Inc., formed in 1978, offers services in real estate development, construction, brokerage and leasing and property management. Adler has significant mixed use multifamily development projects and commercial real estate holdings throughout the Southeastern United States. Adler is a civic and community leader and has held key leadership roles in many charities and non-profit organizations. Adler served as Chairman of Mount Sinai Medical Center where he currently sits on the Board of Trustees, President of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation where he was able to serve as a representative at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and as former Vice Chairman of Florida International University's Board of Trustees. Adler has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Miami.

Calvin Smyre, Nominee for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Dominican Republic
Calvin Smyre has served for 47 years as an elected Representative in the Georgia State Assembly and was Chairman of the Democratic Caucus within the Assembly for over a decade and still serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Caucus. He is the 'Dean' of the Georgia House of Representatives and serves on the Appropriations, Rules, and Higher Education Committees. Smyre is President Emeritus of the National Black Caucus of State Legislators (NBCSL) and a member of the National Conference of State Legislators. In the private sector, he served for almost four decades as the executive vice president of corporate affairs for Synovus Financial Corporation. He represented Synovus on the Financial Services Roundtable in Washington D.C. and was also the President of the Synovus Foundation. Smyre served on the Board of Trustees of the Medical College of Georgia Foundation; the Morehouse School of Medicine; the Jack D. Hughston Foundation and the Fort Valley State University Foundation as its Chair. Smyre earned his B.S. from Fort Valley State University, Fort Valley, Georgia. He has received over 200 local, state and national honors and awards and in 1985 and 2005 he was selected by his peers as the National "Legislator of the Year".