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Shell Center for Sustainability
at Rice University
           
 

Christian R. Holmes

Christian R. Holmes serves as the Executive Director of both Rice University Environmental & Energy Systems Institute and the Shell Center for Sustainability. Mr. Holmes has an international background in business and government, spanning the environmental, international economic development, and energy sectors.

In the environmental sector, he served as the first Chief Financial Officer in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency, where he led the financial, information management and administrative functions supporting EPA, a $6 billion budget and 18,000-person workforce. At EPA, he also served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response. As EPA's Deputy Assistant Administrator for Federal Facilities Enforcement, he was responsible for the oversight of environmental protection activities at all United States Government Agencies. He has also served as the Executive Director for Environment, Safety and Health at Tenneco Inc. and as the Vice President for Environment Safety and Health at Tenneco Energy.

In the international economic development sector, he led the US Trade and Development Agency (TDA) where he initiated a major technical assistance program in China. At the Agency for International Development, he served as Executive Director of a Presidential Task Force of Chief Executive Officers charged with developing new approaches to strengthening international private enterprise in developing countries. He also served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Refugee Programs and as Deputy Director for the Agency for International Development Office for Foreign Disaster assistance. In so doing, he led United States Government's international relief efforts to war and natural disaster victims, conducting on site assessments in Ethiopia, Mauritania, Senegal, the Sahel, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Lebanon, East Timor, and Cambodia.

In the energy sector, in addition to his work at Tenneco, inc, he also served as a Vice President of the Clean Energy Solutions Group at Enron, concentrating on environmental technologies and energy efficiency, including fuel cells, waste-to-energy and air pollution control and the use of air emissions allowances to reduce pollution.

He graduated from Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut in 1968 with a B.A. in government; he was one of the first five graduates in the history of Wesleyan University to receive an Honorary Master of Arts degree in recognition of his public service achievements. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army Reserve and in 1971 received the US Army Soldiers Medal for Heroism.

Mr. Holmes is a recipient of the Arthur S. Fleming Award, given annually to five outstanding mangers in the US Government, and the EPA Gold Medal in recognition for his work in developing a new hazardous waste management strategy He is also a recipient t the President’s Meritorious Service Award for sustained superior accomplishment in the conduct of foreign policy. He is a member of the Board of Visitors to the Duke University Nicholas School of Earth Sciences and the Environment and the Board of Trustees, Webb Schools of California/Alf Museum of Paleontology.



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