![[logo] US EPA](http://www.epa.gov/epafiles/images/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
John A. Todhunter
Biography
[EPA press release - July 2, 1981]
Dr. John A. Todhunter, nominated by President Reagan as the Assistant Administrator for Pesticides and Toxic Substances of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, will direct EPA's program to minimize risks to health and the environment from pesticides and other chemicals used by industries and consumers.
"The job of regulating chemical use in this country is one of the most difficult atEPA," said EPA Administrator Anne McGill Gorsuch. "It involves a careful balancing of the benefits and risks of chemicals, an overriding concern for health protection, and a recognition of the chemical industry's contributions to our standard of living. Dr. Todhunter's background in biochemistry and toxicology, as well as the analytical skills he has acquired as an educator, will serve him well in carrying out his new responsibilities."
Since 1978, Dr. Todhunter, 31, has been Chairman of the biochemistry program and assistant professor of biology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He was a Fellow in the department of biochemistry, Roche Institute of Molecular Biology, Hoffman-LaRoche, Inc. in Nutley, New Jersey, from 1976 to 1978. He served as teaching assistant, research assistant and Regent's Fellow at the University of California (Santa Barbara) in 1974-76. Previously, he was an instructor at California State University (Los Angeles).
Dr. Todhunter's areas of special expertise are molecular biology, molecular pharmacology/toxicology, enzymology and biochemistry.
The nominee graduated from the University of California (B.S., 1971); California State University (M.S., 1973); and the University of California (Ph.D., 1976).
Now residing in Maryland, Dr. Todhunter is married and has two children.