Cynthia L. Quarterman is an American lawyer and engineer, former Director of the

Minerals Management Service The Minerals Management Service (MMS) was an agency of the United States Department of the Interior that managed the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf (OCS). Due to perceived conflict of inte ...

and Administrator of the

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound opera ...

from 2009 until her resignation on October 4, 2014.

Early life and education

Quarterman was born to the late Bernice and Rudolph Quarterman in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia and is the county seat of Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the British colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later t ...

. She attended A. E. Beach High School, where she graduated with honors in 1979. She studied

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering is an engineering profession that is concerned with the optimization of complex processes, systems, or organizations by developing, improving and implementing integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information an ...

and graduated with a B.S. from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

in 1983, and worked for a year as an engineer for IBM in

Owego, New York Owego is a town in Tioga County, New York, United States. The population was 18,728 at the 2020 census. The name is derived from the Iroquois word ''Ahwaga'', meaning "where the valley widens". Owego is in the southeastern corner of the coun ...

. In 1987 she obtained a

J.D. JD or jd may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''JD'' (film), a 2016 Bollywood film * J.D. (''Scrubs''), nickname of Dr. John Dorian, fictional protagonist of the comedy-drama ''Scrubs'' * JD Fenix, a character from the ''Gears of War'' vi ...

degree from the

Columbia University School of Law Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked ...

. While at Columbia, she had served as Executive Editor of the ''

Columbia Journal of Environmental Law The ''Columbia Journal of Environmental Law'' is a student-run law review published at Columbia University's School of Law. The journal primarily publishes articles, notes, and book reviews discussing environmental law and policy and related subj ...

''.

Career

In 1988 Quarterman joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

before joining government service. From 1992-1995, she served in various capacities at Department of Interior, including as Deputy Director of MMS, and as a member of the

Office of Surface Mining The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSMRE) is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior. It is the federal agency entrusted with the implementation and enforcement of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamati ...

's Interim Management Team. She was Director of the

in the

US Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the m ...

from March 1995 to March 1999 during the Clinton Administration. In that capacity, she administered the programs to manage the mineral resources located on the nation's Outer Continental Shelf, including leasing, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, sulfur, and other minerals, and to collect and distribute revenues for oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and mineral development on Federal and Indian lands. She was responsible for ensuring compliance with many environmental laws, including the

National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is a United States environmental law that promotes the enhancement of the environment and established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The law was enacted on January 1, 1970.U ...

, the Clean Air Act, the

Coastal Zone Management Act The Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 (CZMA; , , Chapter 33) is an Act of Congress passed in 1972 to encourage coastal states to develop and implement coastal zone management plans (CZMPs). This act was established as a United States National po ...

, and the

Endangered Species Act The Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA or "The Act"; 16 U.S.C. § 1531 et seq.) is the primary law in the United States for protecting imperiled species. Designed to protect critically imperiled species from extinction as a "consequence of e ...

. In September 1999, she returned to

Steptoe & Johnson Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C. with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, London, Brussels, Beijing, and Hong Kong. History Philip Steptoe and Louis A. Johnson, both ...

LLP as a partner in the Regulatory & Industry Affairs department focusing on litigation and administrative law. She litigated and advised clients on matters associated with pipeline safety, royalty valuation, federal land minerals management, pipeline acquisitions,

Outer Continental Shelf The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a feature of the geography of the United States. The OCS is the part of the internationally recognized continental shelf of the United States which does not fall under the jurisdictions of the individual U. ...

(OCS) oil and natural gas facilities, the jurisdictional status of pipeline assets, as well as surface transportation, alternative energy and telecommunications. Quarterman was a member of the Obama Administration Transition Team at the

US Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United State ...

. On August 14, 2009 she was nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

as Administrator of the

, confirmed by the US Senate on November 5, 2009 and sworn in by Transportation Secretary

Ray LaHood Raymond H. LaHood (born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Par ...

. She resigned on October 4, 2014. Since 2014, she has been a Distinguished Fellow at The Atlantic Council's Global Energy Center.

Personal life

She is married to Pantelis Michalopoulos, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson; their daughter Charis was born in 2006. They currently reside in Washington, D.C. .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quarterman, Cynthia L. Columbia Law School alumni Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni Living people African-American government officials Year of birth missing (living people) People from Savannah, Georgia Obama administration personnel