Alvin L. Alm

Alvin L. Alm (deceased November 2000) was "sworn in May 6, 1996, as Assistant Secretary of the Department of Energy's Environmental Management program" to fill the position vacated by Tom Grumbly. Alm had held executive positions with several high-tech companies, including Science Applications International Corporation, Alliance Technologies Corporation, and Thermal Analytical Corporation. He also served as co-chair of the Environmental Management Advisory Board.

Alm "served as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy under Agency Administrator William D. Ruckelshaus from 1983-85. From 1977-80, he coordinated President James Earl Carter, Jr.'s energy plan, then served as Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation at DOE. In the 1980s through the '90s, Alm managed Harvard's new energy security program; served as Deputy at EPA; served in environmental consulting; and served as President William Jefferson Clinton's Assistant Secretary of Energy in charge of cleaning up U.S. nuclear waste sites. Alm returned to the private sector in 1998, and at the time of his death at age 63 he was executive director of the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities."

Alm served as a task force member for the Defense Science Board. See DSB Memorial Statement.

Alvin Alm - "Executive Vice President of The Columbus Group. Former Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management at the Department of Energy, Senior Vice President and Director responsible for environmental business with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Technologies Corporation." 

"In 1970, Alm drew the attention of Russell Train, who asked him to become his staff director at the newly created Council on Environmental Quality. Alm accepted the position, and within three years was asked by William Ruckelshaus, the first EPA Administrator, to become the Assistant Administrator for Planning and Management. Soon after Alm arrived at EPA, Ruckelshaus was asked to become FBI director, and Russell Train became EPA Administrator - renewing the relationship Alm developed with Train at CEQ. ...

"By the middle 1970s, Alm found himself heavily involved in energy issues. EPA's environmental mandate received less public attention as a result of the rapid increase in energy prices resulting from the OPEC oil embargo of 1973/1974. He was invited to Camp David to help develop the Ford administration's energy policy. This experience, plus his management experience at CEQ and EPA, won him a spot in the Carter administration, first working with James Schlesinger on the Carter energy policy and then as an undersecretary at the newly created Department of Energy.

"In 1979, Alm accepted the responsibility of managing Harvard University's energy security program. As an outsider, "ensconced" at Harvard, he watched EPA struggle through its rockiest times to date. When adverse media reports and congressional investigations forced Ronald Reagan's first EPA Administrator Ann Gorsuch to resign, William Ruckelshaus returned to stabilize the agency's credibility. Ruckelshaus tapped Al Alm to manage the daily affairs of the Agency as Deputy Administrator. Ruckelshaus and Alm served through the remainder of Reagan's first term and then both left the government for the business community. Alm became a senior vice president at Science Applications International Corporation, Inc. in McLean, VA." 

Related SourceWatch Resources

 * EPA's Revolving Door