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James M. Seif
Biography
[EPA press release - February 27, 1985]
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee M. Thomas today announced that James M. Seif has been named the agency's Region 3 Administrator. The region, which has its headquarters in Philadelphia, includes Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and the District of Columbia.
Seif, 39, has been Regional Manager of Government Relations for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company's Washington, D.C. region. From 1979 to 1983, he was the Administrative Assistant for Gov. Dick Thornburgh, of Pennsylvania. As Administrative Assistant, Seif managed legislative and policy issues, new media relations and the general counsel's office. He also advised Thornburgh on governmental and political matters.
Between 1977 and 1978, Seif served as deputy campaign manager for the Thornburgh-for-Governor Committee, and before that he was assistant general counsel for Rohm and Haas Co. of Philadelphia.
Between 1975 and 1977, Seif served as Special Assistant to the Attorney General in the U.S. Department of Justice's Criminal Division, and from 1973 to 1975 he was Chief of the Legal Branch of EPA's Region 3 office, where he supervised the development of cases in all of EPA's programs and developed enforcement guidelines and procedures. He was also an Assistant U.S. Attorney from 1971 to 1973.
Seif earned his B.A. in political science and American government from Yale University in 1967 and his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1971. He has practiced law in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Seif, a native of Pittsburgh, is married to the former Patricia Ritter.