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Janet G. McCabe, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air administrator, has been appointed as a Professor of Practice at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Professor McCabe served first as Principal Deputy, and from 2013-2017 as Acting Assistant Administrator, playing a lead role in framing, shaping and implementing Clean Air Act standards, including the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and the Clean Power Plan and Ozone standards. A senior fellow at the Environmental Policy and Law Center in Chicago, she has taught Environmental Law as an adjunct professor at the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Public Health.

“I am delighted that Professor McCabe will join us in this new capacity at IU McKinney,” said Andrew R. Klein, IU McKinney Dean and Paul E. Beam Professor of Law. “As a major player in the world of environmental law, she brings outstanding experience in the public and non-profit sectors. Janet McCabe has a truly impressive record of leadership that stands to benefit the law school.”

She previously served as Executive Director of Improving Kids’ Environment in Indianapolis, and as Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Air Quality at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. Professor McCabe is a graduate of Harvard University, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree (B.A.) in 1980, and doctor of jurisprudence (J.D.) in 1983.

Professor McCabe’s new appointment is part of the IU Grand Challenges Prepared for Environmental Change initiative. As the Assistant Director for Policy and Implementation at the newly created Environmental Resilience Institute, she will focus on making the connection between Indiana’s local officials and businesses and the resources and tools to be developed through the Institute’s research and projects, to enhance Indiana’s efforts to be resilient in the face of environmental change.

“I am thrilled to be joining McKinney School of Law and IU’s new Environmental Resilience Institute,” Professor McCabe said. “This is a critical time for public health and environmental protection in this country, when law and policy matter.”

In 2017, IU President Michael A. McRobbie announced a $55 million investment to help Indiana develop actionable solutions that prepare businesses, farmers, communities and individual Hoosiers for the effects of ongoing environmental change. The initiative -- Prepared for Environmental Change -- is the second project funded through IU's $300 million Grand Challenges Program, which launched in 2015.

"Air pollution presents one of the greatest threats to public health in the United States and worldwide. Over 200,000 premature deaths occur in the United States due to air pollution,” said Professor Carlton Waterhouse, director of the IU McKinney Environment, Energy and Natural Resources (EENR) Law Program. “At the EPA and in Indiana, Janet McCabe has distinguished herself as one of the nation's top law and policy experts in this critical area.  Having her here, at the IU McKinney School of Law, is a fantastic addition to the EENR program.”