John D.  Walker Ph.D. M.P.H. Author of Evaluating Organization Development
FEATURED AUTHOR

John D. Walker Ph.D. M.P.H.

Retired Director of the U.S. EPA's Toxic Substances Control Act
Interagency Testing Committee (ITC)

John is an internationally-recognized expert in environmental toxicology and chemistry with over 50 years of professional academic, industrial and government experience.

Biography

Education: John received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology magna cum laude from Kent State University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He studied microbiology at the University of Dayton where he was elected to Sigma Xi and studied environmental toxicology at the Ohio State University's Franz T. Stone Laboratory while earning his Ph.D. His M.P.H. is from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Experience: John has over 50 years of professional academic, industrial and government experience in toxicology and chemistry. After teaching at the University of Maryland and working at Lockheed Martin, John spent 3 years as a regulatory toxicologist for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and 37 years working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA).  At the U.S. EPA, John was responsible for prioritizing and screening chemicals for testing and risk assessment. His 37 years with the U.S. EPA includes 12 years as Senior Scientist and 25 years as Director of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Interagency Testing Committee (ITC).  The ITC is an independent advisory committee to the U.S. EPA Administrator with representatives from 14 U.S. Government organizations. The ITC’s statutory responsibility is to identify industrial chemicals that are likely to harm humans or the environment and recommend them for testing to develop data needed to assess their risks.

John is a Charter Member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC), an Emeritus Member of the American Society for Microbiology and the American Academy of Microbiology and a former Editor of SETAC's International Journal, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. John has written 2 books on Quantitative Structure Activity Relationships (QSARs), authored or co-authored 160 peer-reviewed publications and written 140 abstracts of presentations for national and international professional society meetings. John is the only recipient of the American Fisheries Society/U.S. EPA Science Achievement Award in Biology/Ecology. John was the recipient of the U.S. EPA Distinguished Career Award and received two Gold medals, one Silver medal and 5 Bronze medals during his 37 years with the U.S. EPA. John was awarded the U.S. EPA’s Unsung Hero Award for his work with Special Olympics and the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry Government Service Award for promoting the application of toxicology and chemistry to risk assessment. John is married with 4 children and 4 grandchildren.

John retired from the U.S. EPA in 2014.

Books

Featured Title
 Featured Title - Fundamental QSARs for Metal Ions - 1st Edition book cover