| Russell E. Train | |
|---|---|
| 2nd Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | |
| In office September, 1973 – January, 1977 |
|
| President | Richard Nixon Gerald Ford |
| Preceded by | William Ruckelshaus |
| Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality | |
| In office 1970–1973 |
|
| Preceded by | none |
| Succeeded by | Russell Peterson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 4, 1920 Jamestown, Rhode Island |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Aileen Train |
| Alma mater | Columbia Law School Princeton University |
Russell Errol Train (born: June 4, 1920) was the second Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), from September 1973 to January 1977,[1] and the Founder Chairman Emeritus of World Wildlife Fund (WWF). As head of the EPA under U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, Train is generally credited with helping to place the issue of the environment on the presidential and national agenda in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a key period in the environmental movement.
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Russell Train was born in June 1920 in Jamestown, Rhode Island, but grew up in Washington, D.C.. His father was an officer in the United States Navy who was frequently away. Young Russell attended the Potomac School and then the elite St. Albans School, upon which he graduated from in 1937.
Train matriculated to Princeton University, where he received an A.B. in political science in 1941. While there he was in the United States Army ROTC program and upon graduation entered the Army as an officer. Train remained in the Army for four years during World War II, stationed both home and overseas and ending up on Okinawa. He attained the rank of major, before being discharged in 1946.
Over the following two years Train attended Columbia University Law School, where he took an accelerated schedule and graduated with a J.D. in 1948.
Early in his career, Russell Train served from 1949 to 1956 as Attorney, Chief Counsel, and Minority Advisor on various Congressional committees and from 1956 to 1957 as Assistant to the Secretary and Head of the Legal Advisory Staff for the U.S. Treasury Department.
In 1954, Train married the former Aileen Bowdoin Travers; they are the parents to four children – Nancy, Emily, Bowdoin and Errol.
Russell E. Train was a judge for the U.S. Tax Court from 1957 to 1965.
In 1959, Russell Train founded the Wildlife Leadership Foundation in hopes of establishing effective wildlife parks and reserves. In 1961, he founded the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) to aid Africans in developing capacity to manage their own wildlife resources. He was chairman of the AWF from 1961 to 1969. He also helped establish the College of African Wildlife Management at Mweka (near Moshi), Tanzania.[2]
When the World Wildlife Fund (U.S.) was formed in Washington, D.C., on December 1, 1961, Russell Train became its first ever Vice-President; in later years he was named Chair Emeritus of the WWF. He was President of The Conservation Foundation from 1965 to 1969. In this role, Train helps to bring the environment to the American public’s consciousness and lobbies for a high-level policy group at the highest levels of government.
In 1966, Train became a member of the National Water Commission, charged by Congress with reviewing national water policies.
In 1968, Train was selected to serve as Chairman, Task Force on Environment for U.S. President-elect Richard M. Nixon. His selection, and the creation of the task force, signals the growing acceptance by the incoming administration of the “environment” as a public policy concept.[2]
Russell Train served as Under Secretary of the Department of the Interior from 1969 to 1970. Between 1970 and 1973 he was Chairman of the newly formed Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ).
During his time as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Train led during the approval of the catalytic converter to achieve Clean Air Act automobile emission reductions; and the implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
As head of the EPA under Presidents Nixon and Ford, Train is generally credited with helping to place the issue of the environment on the presidential and national agenda in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a key period in the environmental movement.
After leaving EPA he served as President of the World Wildlife Fund-U.S. from 1978 to 1985 and as its Chairman from 1985 to 1994. Under his guidance, World Wildlife Fund-US expanded its focus not only on species-related conservation projects, but also on protecting habitat by establishing national parks and nature reserves. It also developed innovative financial mechanisms, including the concept of using Third World debt reduction to protect the global environment. Through these debt-for-nature swaps, WWF started to convert portions of national debts into funding for conservation, beginning in the mid-eighties.
Through Train’s efforts, in 1983 the WWF-administered J. Paul Getty Wildlife Conservation Prize was presented to awardees in the White House Rose Garden by President Ronald Reagan. President Reagan called the Getty Prize “the Nobel Prize for Conservation.” Begun in 1974, the Getty Prize originally honored outstanding contributions to wildlife conservation and now focuses on the education of future conservationists.
In 1985, Train became Chairman of the Board of Directors of World Wildlife Fund and The Conservation Foundation and served as Chairman until 1994. In this same year, the Conservation Foundation formally affiliated with WWF. Though the organizations shared the same Board of Directors as well as some staff, they remained separate legal entities until their merger in 1990.
During 1988 he also worked as Co-Chairman of Conservationists for Bush, making reference to George H. W. Bush, and from 1990 to 1992 as Chairman of the National Commission on the Environment.
In September 1994, Train was elected WWF Chairman Emeritus. That same year, WWF launched the Russell E. Train Education for Nature (EFN) Program to help build capacity for conservation in Africa, Asia, and Latin America by supporting academic and mid-career training. To date, EFN has awarded over 1,200 scholarships and training grants totaling 11.3 million since its establishment.
Train was named Chairman of WWF’s National Council from 1994 to 2001.
In 2003, Politics, Pollution and Panda: An Environmental Memoir by Russell E. Train was published. A chronicle of his career, the book is also a history of the birth and growth of U.S. national interest in environmental issues.
In 1981 Train was awarded the Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Sciences.[3]
In 1991, Train received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his work in conservation.
In 2001, Train received the 7th Annual Heinz Award Chairman's Medal, 2001,[4] a prestigious prize honoring individuals who have made extraordinary achievements on issues of importance. Train was recognized as “a tireless advocate for the cause of the environment since 1961… the architect of an environmental agenda without parallel in history in its scope…and as a “truly outstanding example of how a single life can make a difference in the world.”[2]
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by none |
Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality 1969–1973 |
Succeeded by Russell Peterson |
| Preceded by William D. Ruckelshaus |
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 1973–1977 |
Succeeded by Douglas M. Costle |
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