Gov. McDonnell at Environmental Conference 

LEXINGTON, Va., March 4, 2010 – Gov. Robert F. McDonnell will be the keynote speaker at the opening of the 21st annual Environment Virginia Symposium at Virginia Military Institute April 7.

The two-day symposium brings together the public and private sectors to address Virginia’s most urgent environmental issues. This year’s theme is “Optimizing Stewardship in a Challenging Economy.” 

McDonnell, in his first visit to VMI, kicks off the conference with his remarks the first morning of the symposium.  Other keynote speakers include James Gustave Speth and Dennis Treacy.

Speth is author of The Bridge at the Edge of the World: Capitalism, the Environment, and Crossing from Crisis to Sustainability.  He was founder of the World Resources Institute; chairman of the U.S. Council on Environmental Quality; co-founder of the Natural Resources Defense Council; and dean of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Treacy is vice president of the Environmental and Corporate Affairs at Smithfield Foods Inc.  Prior to that, he served as director of Virginia’s Department of Environmental Quality. From 1990 to 1995, he served as assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the Virginia Attorney General’s Office.

VMI’s Superintendent, Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, will welcome more than 500 environmental leaders from the public and private sectors expected at the symposium.  In addition to the keynote speakers, participants will hear from national and state experts about environmental challenges and opportunities.  Sessions and speakers will address changes to state and federal regulations; restoring the Chesapeake Bay; strategic land conservation; energy; viable and sustainable farms; adapting to climate change; and sustainable development.

Regular registration rates are in effect for those registering by March 10.  After that date, late rates will be in effect. To register or to get additional information, visit the symposium Web site.

The son of an Air Force officer, McDonnell attended the University of Notre Dame on an Army ROTC scholarship, graduating in 1976 with a bachelor of business administration degree in management. While serving with the U.S. Army in Germany he earned a master’s degree in business administration by taking night classes from Boston University. In 1981, McDonnell left active duty, but he remained in the U.S. Army Reserve until finally retiring in 1997.

After leaving active duty, McDonnell began working for the American Hospital Supply Corporation. In 1985, he enrolled in Regent University where he both attended law school and sought a master’s degree in public policy and communications. During that time, McDonnell continued serving in the Army Reserves, worked as a sales manager for The Virginian-Pilot and completed an internship on Capitol Hill with the House Republican Policy Committee. After graduating from Regent in 1989, he became a prosecutor in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth Attorney’s Office.

In 1991, McDonnell was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 84th District located in Virginia Beach. In his 14 years as a delegate, McDonnell served as the assistant majority leader and chairman of the House Courts of Justice Committee, and he was chief patron of numerous bills addressing crime issues. He also authored legislation and secured funding for the creation of Virginia’s Judicial Performance Evaluation Program to guide the General Assembly in reappointing judges. For his efforts, he was named the Network of Victims of Crime Legislator of the Year in 1996, the National Child Support Enforcement Association National Legislator of the Year in 1998, the Family Foundation of Virginia’s Legislator of the Year in 1998 and 2001, and the Virginia Sheriffs’ Association Legislator of the Year in 2005.

In 2006, McDonnell took office as the Attorney General of Virginia. In that role, he is credited with enacting a 25-year mandatory minimum sentence for violent child sex predators, increasing penalties for drug dealers, and making Virginia a national leader in combating internet crimes and identity theft. He is also credited with strengthening Virginia’s mental health laws, cracking down on animal fighting, establishing a “senior alert” to assist in locating missing seniors, and creating a state-of-the-art sex offender registry, and providing new tools for law enforcement involved in online investigations. McDonnell also created and led Virginia’s Youth Internet Safety Task Force and established the ongoing Attorney General’s Task Force on Regulatory and Government Reform.

McDonnell has partnered with numerous non-profit organizations during his time in office, including the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation, The Healing Place and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

McDonnell was inaugurated as the 71st governor of Virginia on Jan. 16. He and his wife, Maureen, have five children.

-VMI-