Honorable John Paul Woodley, Jr.
Mr. John Paul Woodley, Jr., the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), is responsible for the supervision of the Army’s Civil Works program, including programs for conservation and development of the nation's water and wetland resources, flood control, navigation, and shore protection.
On May 16, 2005 President George W. Bush appointed John Paul Woodley, Jr., as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) following confirmation by the Senate. Mr. Woodley had been serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) from December 9, 2004 until this appointment. Prior to this, he served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) from August 22, 2003, until December 8, 2004, when his recess appointment concluded. Mr. Woodley previously served as the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environment). In this capacity Mr. Woodley oversaw the Defense environmental program, encompassing both environmental restoration and compliance and pollution prevention efforts. Mr. Woodley was also the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense on environmental, safety and occupational health policy and programs.
Prior to his appointment as the Assistant Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Environment), Mr. Woodley served as Secretary of Natural Resources in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore from January 1998 until October 2001. As Secretary of Natural Resources, Mr. Woodley supervised eight Virginia agencies responsible for environmental regulation, permitting and enforcement, natural and historic conservation, and outdoor recreation, including parks, fisheries and wildlife management.
Mr. Woodley also served as Deputy Attorney General of Virginia for Government Operations beginning in 1994. The Government Operations Division of the Attorney General's Office represented all state agencies in the areas of administration, finance, transportation, economic development, and natural resources.
Mr. Woodley attended Washington & Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, on an Army R.O.T.C. scholarship. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington & Lee in 1974, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Woodley also attended the Law School at Washington & Lee, where he received his juris doctor degree cum laude in 1977.
Mr. Woodley served on active duty with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1979 until 1985 and retired from the Army Reserve in August 2003 as a Lieutenant Colonel. He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal (2nd Oak Leaf Cluster), the Army Commendation Medal (1st Oak Leaf Cluster), and the Army Achievement Medal. His civilian awards include the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service. Mr. Woodley is a native of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Honorable Mike Parker
A native of Mississippi, Parker was elected to represent the Fourth Congressional District of Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1989. While serving the House from 1989 to 1999, Parker served on the Budget, Appropriations, Transportation, Education and Workforce, and Veterans Affairs committees. While on the Appropriations Committee, Parker sat on the Energy and Water Development, and the Military Construction subcommittees.
Parker calls Brookhaven, Mississippi, home, and maintains a residence in Alexandria, Virginia. He and his wife Rosemary have been married for 31 years. They have three children -- Adrian, a professional golfer; Marisa, a junior at Millsaps College; and Thomas, a junior in high school.
Honorable Joseph W. Westphal, Ph D.
Dr. Joseph W. Westphal served as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA (CW)) from June 1998-March 2001. In this role, Dr. Westphal provided executive direction and leadership to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program and administration of the Arlington National Cemetery.
Dr. Westphal received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Missouri and spent twelve years as a professor and then Head of the Political Science Department at Oklahoma State University.
In the early 1980's, Dr. Westphal served on the House Committee on the Budget and later in the Department of the Interior.
From 1988 to 1995, he was the Executive Director of the Sunbelt Caucus, a bipartisan, bicameral coalition of Members of Congress. He also served in the Senate as Special Assistant to Senator Thad Cochran of Mississippi.
Dr. Westphal then served as the Senior Policy Advisor for Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he worked on issues relating to the Clean Water Act, transportation and infrastructure, Mississippi River water quality, children's health, and international agreements.
As Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, Dr. Westphal was a major driving force behind more comprehensive, basin-wide planning efforts, revitalization of the Corps' recreation facilities, and expansion of the Corps' ability to serve the nation in public infrastructure and environmental restoration needs. He served on the President's Drought Policy Commission, the Recreation Lakes Commission, and the Coral Reefs Task Force. He was the current Chairman of the Coastal America Program.
In 2001, Dr. Westphal assumed the position of Acting Secretary of the Army. He continued in this position for some months before leaving the public sector and becoming a partner and Senior Policy Counselor at Patton Boggs LLP in Washington, DC. In 2002, Dr. Westphal was named Chancellor of the University of Maine System. He later served as Provost, Senior Vice President of Research and Professor of Environmental Studies at the New School in New York City until 2008 when he stepped down to become a member of President Obama's transition team for defense matters.
In 2009 he was selected to be the 30th Under Secretary of the Army.
Honorable H. Martin Lancaster
Mr. Martin Lancaster served as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA (CW)) from January 1996 to June 1997. During his tenure as Assistant Secretary, Mr. Lancaster worked most notably in close collaboration with the Administration and the Congress to craft a balanced Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (WRDA 96), and he strengthened the Corps' Support for Others (SFO) program WRDA 96 set a healthy course across the spectrum of the Corps' Civil Works program heading into the new millennium. The enhanced SFO outreach to other agencies and governments will provide extensive Corps' services to meet the engineering, planning and water resources needs of other agencies and friendly governments, and it will leverage the tremendous capabilities of the Corps consistent with the Nation's security and military strategies.
Prior to Mr. Lancaster's appointment as the ASA(CW), he served as the Special Advisor to President Clinton on Chemical Weapons. Mr. Lancaster's other public service includes his serving as a Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1987 until 1995 and as a Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives for eight years prior.
In June 1997, Mr. Lancaster was selected President of the North Carolina Community College System. He returned to North Carolina to assume that position in July 1997.
Honorable Nancy P. Dorn
Honorable Nancy P. Dorn served as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) from July 1991 to January 1993. Ms. Dorn's responsibilities included, but not limited to, matters associated with the Panama Canal Commission and Arlington National Cemetery. She was the first woman and, at age 33, the youngest person to be nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate to the position of Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
During Ms. Dorn's tenure, the Army Corps of Engineers made great strides in defining and, in some cases, broadening its environmental mission. As a result, the Corps put its talents and expertise to work on environmental clean-up projects, which included the nuclear production sites of the Department of Defense and Energy, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund sites. The Corps increasingly became the Nation's Engineer, performing environmental and construction work for some 25 Federal agencies, in addition to its Civil Works mission in all 50 states.
During the Bush Administration, the Corps adopted a balanced approach to protection of the environment while allowing for prudent and much-needed economic development. In the wetlands regulatory program, there was an attempt to reintroduce common sense and flexibility through significant regulatory reforms and policy guidance. A common set of rules was adopted by the federal regulatory agencies and timeframes for completing permit applications were established.
Prior to Ms. Dorn's Presidential appointment and confirmation, she was Special Assistant for Legislative Affairs to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush. She also held the positions of Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Inter-American Affairs and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs. From 1992-1998, Ms. Dorn worked as a partner in the Washington, D.C. firm of Hooper, Hooper, Owen and Gould, which specializes in energy, taxes and international issues, and then spent time serving on the board of the Inter-American Foundation. Following this, in 2001 Ms. Dorn worked as an assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney for legislative affairs. The following year, Ms. Dorn assumed the position of deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, in which office she served until May of 2003. At that point, Ms. Dorn became Vice President of Corporate Government Relations at The General Electric Company, in which position she currently serves.
Honorable Robert W. Page
Mr. Page served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA(CW)), and Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission from December 1985 until May 1987. He formulated, developed and implemented Secretary of the Army, Secretary of Defense, and Administration policies with respect to the Civil Works activities of the Department of the Army, administration of Arlington and Soldiers' and Airmen's Home National cemeteries, activities of the Panama Canal Commission, and the Army Corps of Engineers international activities which were not exclusively in support of U.S. military forces overseas.
During his tenure, among other significant accomplishments, Mr. Page instituted a Project Management System for the Civil Works program. He established standardization procedures and served on the President's Disaster Task Force. Additionally, Mr. Page served on the President's Domestic Policy Council. Other noteworthy accomplishments of Mr. Page's include Engineering Record Man of the Year Award, 1985; National Society of Professional Engineers Construction Man of the Year Award, 1988, American Society of Civil Engineering Man President's Award, 1991; and Who's Who in America/World.
Mr. Page served as the Executive Vice President of McDermott International, Inc. until 1994. McDermott International is a leading worldwide energy service company. The company and its subsidiaries manufacture steam-generating equipment, defense, products, and tubular products. They also provide engineering and construction services for industrial and utility facilities onshore and to the oil and gas industry offshore.
Mr. Page died on June 29, 2010
Honorable Robert K. Dawson
Mr. Dawson served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA(CW)) from December 1985 until May 1987. He was responsible for the activities of the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program, overseas national building programs, and the Panama Canal Commission activities. In this post, Mr. Dawson led a successful effort to enact the first Water Resources Development Act in 16 years which adopted the cost-sharing principals of his predecessors. He also led a significant reform of the Corps' complex regulatory program.
Prior to serving as the ASA(CW), Mr. Dawson was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981 as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works). From 1987 until 1989, Mr. Dawson served as Associate Director for Natural Resources, Science, and Technology, Office of Management and Budget. In this position, he was responsible for approximately one-fourth of the annual domestic budget and program policy of the United States, including the Departments of the Interior, Agriculture, and Energy, NASA, Environmental Protection Agency, Tennessee Valley Authority, the Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works Program, the Council on Environmental Quality, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Smithsonian Institution, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the National Gallery of Art. As the Associate Director, Mr. Dawson brought to this job an unusual perspective, having previously served as Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) overseeing the program of the Army Corps of Engineers and having spent nearly a decade on Capitol Hill as a staff member on both sides of the political aisle.
Mr. Dawson left public service in January 1989, joined the Washington, D. C. government relations firm of Cassidy and Associates, where he served as Vice Chairman and headed a division which concentrated on Water Resources Development, Regulatory, Environmental and other infrastructure issues. On January 8, 1998, Mr. Dawson announced his departure from Cassidy and Associates to form his own government relations firm, Dawson & Associates, Inc.
Honorable. William Gianelli
Mr. William Gianelli served as the third Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA(CW)) from April 1981 to May 1984. As the ASA(CW), Mr. Gianelli supervised the affairs of Arlington National Cemetery, during which period he secured the authorization and funding for a Visitor Center at Arlington and interred a Vietnam War Unknown at the Tomb of the Unknown. Under Mr. Gianelli's leadership of the Army Civil Works Program, cost sharing for Corps of Engineers' projects was initiated, and the interagency procedures for the Corps' Section 404 regulatory permit program were streamlined. Mr. Gianelli's leadership in this area helped secure the survival of the Civil Works program.
Mr. Gianelli also served as Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission from 1981-1989, the latter 4 years of which were under special Congressional Authorization.
Prior to Mr. Gianelli's appointment and confirmation as the ASA(CW), he served a total of 21 years with the State of California's Engineer's office and the Department of Water Resources. He was the Director of the Department of Water Resources the last 7 of those 21 years. In addition to the State of California service, for 14 years Mr. Gianelli headed his own Consulting Engineering Firm specializing in the water resources field.. Currently, Mr. Gianelli serves as Senior Adviser, Emeritus, at Dawson and Associates, Inc., located in Washington, DC.
Honorable Michael Blumenfeld
Mr. Michael Blumenfeld served as the second Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA(CW)) from April 1979 to January 1981 under the Johnson and Carter Administrations. As the ASA(CW), he provided leadership to the Army Corps of Engineers, administration of the Arlington National Cemetery, and he served as the first Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission, which was established by the Panama Canal Treaties of 1977, to administer the Canal until the turnover to Panama December 31, 1999.
For the Civil Works Program, Mr. Blumenfeld directed development of sounder standards for deciding merits of new Federal water project proposals and negotiated with U.S. environmental agencies new methods to expedite issuance of Federal permits for construction in wetlands and navigable waters.
As Chairman of the Panama Canal Commission, Mr. Blumenfeld established new capital investment, and wage and personnel policies under which the Canal could operate effectively and efficiently in the post-Treaty environment.
Before, between and after tours of public service, Mr. Blumenfeld held executive positions in advertising, public utilities, universities (Harvard and New York University), and in the health insurance industry. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School. He served as an enlisted man from 1953-1956 in the U.S. Army (Artillery). Currently, Mr. Blumenfeld is retired.
Honorable Victor V. Veysey
Mr. Victor V. Veysey served as the first Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) (ASA (CW)) from March 1975 to January 1977. As the first ASA (CW), he set the standard for civilian oversight of the Corps during a very challenging period. Water and power projects were getting larger and, to help finance these projects and give local citizens more input into the Corps' projects, he identified cost sharing with local governments as an important issue. The environmental movement also matured and began influencing many Army decisions. He also played a major role in the negotiations that ultimately lead to the Panama Canal Treaty.
Prior to this position, Mr. Veysey was a Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1975, representing the 38th and 43rd Districts of California.
Also under the purview of Mr. Veysey, were policy matters concerning the Army Corps of Engineers' regulatory authority with respect to construction work impacting "waters of the United States." Currently, Mr. Veysey is the Director of the Industrial Relations Center and Lecturer in Business Economics, Institute of Technology, State of California.
Mr. Veysey died on February 13, 2001