William K. Reilly has achieved a consequential career in environmental leadership. He has served four presidents in high positions and sensitive assignments requiring notable judgment and disciplined discretion.
In this episode of the Serve to Lead Podcast, Reilly discusses the past, present and promise of environmental leadership in the United States and globally. He draws upon his unique experiences in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. He also shares revealing vignettes of personalities and events that define the past half-century of environmental and energy policy.
William Reilly has served Presidents Nixon, George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama. For more than 20 years he was a Senior Advisor to TPG Capital, an international investment partnership. During his tenure with TPG, he was the Founding Partner of Aqua International Partners, a private equity fund dedicated to investing in companies in the water sector.
Reilly was Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1989 to 1993, holding cabinet rank. At EPA he led efforts to pass a new Clean Air Act and headed the U.S. delegation to the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio in 1992. He also served as president of World Wildlife Fund and later chairman of the board; president of The Conservation Foundation; and director of the Rockefeller Task Force on Land Use and Urban Growth.
He is a frequent writer and speaker, including recent events at the Yale School for Environment, Oxford University (UK), and an article for America: The Jesuit Review.
Administrator Reilly is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University, a law degree from Harvard, and a master’s degree in urban planning from Columbia University. He served in the U.S. Army to the rank of Captain, 1966-1968. He and his wife Elizabeth reside in San Francisco.
His website is williamkreilly.com.
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William K Reilly | The Past, Present, and Promise of Environmental Leadership