Board of Advisers member Mary Beth Ward named Alumni Fellow

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State Alumni Association will recognize Penn State Law Board of Advisers member Mary Beth Ward Oct. 26 with the lifelong title of Alumni Fellow, the highest award given by the Alumni Association.

Ward, who earned her bachelor’s degree in Mineral Economics from Penn State in 1982, currently serves as an environmental appeals judge on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Appeals Board. She brings to the board almost three decades of litigation and management experience at the U.S. Justice and Commerce departments in matters arising under federal pollution control and natural resource laws.

Previously, Ward served as deputy general counsel for the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She led a staff providing legal advice across an array of NOAA programs to manage the nation’s commercial and recreational fisheries and protect at-risk marine species and their habitat, and was recognized twice with the Department of Commerce Gold Medal, the department’s highest award.

Prior to joining NOAA in 2004, Ward served in the Justice Department’s Environmental Defense Section, where she litigated on behalf of the EPA and other federal agencies in both federal district and appellate courts. Before joining the Justice Department in 1987, Ward was an associate with the environmental department of Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen in Philadelphia. 

In addition to her bachelor’s degree from Penn State, Ward holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

The Alumni Fellow program is administered by the Penn State Alumni Association in cooperation with the University's academic colleges, campuses, and the Office of the President. Alumni are nominated by a college or campus as leaders in their professional fields and accept an invitation from the President of the University to return to campus to share their expertise with students, faculty, and administrators. For more information on the Alumni Fellow program, including criteria and past recipients, visit the Alumni Association's website.