A Kansas University professor recently named to a federal environmental administration post is no stranger to career changes.
“To put it mildly, I’ve had sort of a varied background,” said Karl Brooks, an associate professor of history and environmental studies, who was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to be the regional administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
He worked as a corporate attorney for a wood and paper company and served six years as an Idaho state senator before he came to academia, settling in at KU in 2000.
He’ll still be living in Lawrence and commuting to the EPA office in Kansas City, Kan., that oversees Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.
Brooks plans to take a leave of absence from KU and return to teaching when he leaves his EPA administration post — likely when a new president takes office, he said.
Chris Brown, director of KU’s environmental studies program and an associate professor of geography, said that Brooks’ background would serve him well in his new position.
He described Brooks as a positive contributor to KU’s strong environmental history field of study.
“Karl’s always been extremely productive within the program,” Brown said. “He’s someone people go to as a resource for what’s going on in the community.”
Brooks has written books on the environmental legacy of Harry S. Truman, the origins of American environmental law and an exploration of how water policy affected the Hells Canyon dam on the Snake River on the Idaho-Oregon border.
Brown said Brooks will still be able to help KU in his new job, both during and after his tenure.
“I told Karl he’d better familiarize himself quickly with the internship policy,” Brown said.
Brooks said that while he wasn’t sure exactly how he came to be nominated for the post over others, he said he hoped it had to do with his background in working with the environment.
He’ll be the eyes and ears of both the EPA administrator and the White House for the region. The EPA monitors ongoing issues such as large Superfund cleanup sites in Omaha, Neb., and in southeastern Kansas, in areas impacted by coal, lead and zinc mining decades ago.
Paul Kelton, KU’s history department chairman, said that his colleagues were happy to share in Brooks’ continued success.
“We’re all real proud of Karl, and what he’s accomplished, and we think this is only a good thing for KU,” Kelton said.
Comments
LJWorld.com doesn’t necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post. Read our full policy. Also, read about banned accounts and harassing comments.
jfcm77 (anonymous) says…
Congrats!
Fugu (anonymous) says…
Easily one of the best professor's I've had. Grats Karl and good luck.
dogbait (anonymous) says…
"He worked as a corporate attorney for a wood and paper company". And he will be looking out for our environmental conditions? What exactly has he done in the past to demonstrate his loyalty and dedication to the environment? Sorry, just questions that should be addressed?
"He’ll be the eyes and ears of both the EPA administrator and the White House for the region. The EPA monitors ongoing issues such as large Superfund cleanup sites in Omaha, Neb., and in southeastern Kansas, in areas impacted by coal, lead and zinc mining decades ago." Well sir, you have your work cut out for you. Hope you not in it just for the "ride". Sorry, but usually "corporate attorneys" protect corporate interest and not environmental interests. But, maybe you are different and good luck.
BigPrune (anonymous) says…
An admirer of Mao?
redfred (anonymous) says…
One of many that will be leaving the Kansas educational system if things don't turn around soon.
livingstone (anonymous) says…
Karl is a great professor and he has done quite a lot of research that benefits the environment. No matter what you do in life, you'll always be questioned by the things you did, like dogbait... it takes time to prove that Karl is actually the right person, just like it'll take time for the not-so-smart people to realize that Obama is doing the right thing...
feeble (anonymous) says…
How do you know his parents weren't early fans of Karl Lagerfeld? Karl was an extremely common name in the US during the middle of the last century:
http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager...
webmocker (anonymous) says…
Auroch (Anonymous) says…
"With a name like Karl it is safe to assume his parents were admirers of Marx. This is an appropriate position for those with certain political beliefs."
Perhaps instead they were admirers of Karl Brandt, the euthanasia administrator for the Nazi regime and Hitler's personal physician. Or Karl Rove, infamous political operative. Or maybe they just liked the letter K.
parrothead8 (anonymous) says…
@dogbait
You must have missed the parts of the article that talked about the books he's written and what he's been studying for the last decade. Also, since you are correct that a corporate attorney usually looks out for the interests of the corporation, two things come to mind:
1) It's a good thing Brooks is no longer a corporate attorney.
2) It's a good thing he used to be a corporate attorney, because he'll know how the other side thinks.
@Auroch
Karl Rove disproves your statement. Try again. What "certain political beliefs" does one need to ensure that Big Business isn't recklessly pumping pollutants into our air, water, and soil?