Barbara Blum Explained

Barbara Davis Blum (born July 6, 1939) is an American businesswoman, public health administrator, and environmental advocate who served as the Deputy Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency from 1977 to 1981.^{[1] [2]} From 1983 to 1998, she was the president and chief executive of Adams National Bank,^[3] the first federally chartered bank to be owned and managed by women.^[4] The bank was later renamed Abigail Adams National Bancorp. ^[5]

Early Life and Education

Blum was born July 6, 1939, in Hutchinson, Kansas, and attended Florida State University, where she received both a bachelor's degree and master's degree in Social Work. ^[6]

Career

Blum was a faculty member at the Pediatric Psychiatry Clinic at the University of Kansas Medical Center. From 1963 to 1964, she served as acting administrator of the Suffolk County Mental Health Clinic in Huntington, New York. In 1964, Blum co-founded the Mid-Suffolk Center for Psychotherapy in Hauppauge, New York, where she held the position of partner and center administrator until 1966.

Blum has held various positions on boards and commissions, including as a member of the Federal Reserve Board's National Consumer Advisory Council, chair of the Georgia Heritage Trust Commission, and vice-chair of the Fulton County Planning Commission. She was also appointed by the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce to Leadership Atlanta from 1974 to 1976.

In 1976, Blum served as a deputy campaign director for the Carter-Mondale Presidential campaign. ^[7]

During her tenure at the EPA, she established the National Hazardous Waste Enforcement Task Force^[8] to coordinate the clean up of toxic waste at so-called superfund sites. She was also part of the EPA's 1978 recall of American Motors Corporation vehicles because of faulty exhaust systems that permit nitrogen oxide to escape into the air. The recall affected 270,000 Hornets, Gremlins, Pacers and Matadors, as well as 40,000 Jeeps and postal delivery trucks.^[9]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Charles Mohr . E.P.A. Scores Bids to Cut Cost of Rules . Nytimes.com . 1978-07-27 . 2019-02-12.
2. Web site: . Capital Group Helps Women Get Top Federal Jobs . Nytimes.com . 1978-12-28 . 2019-02-12.
3. Web site: Barbara Davis Blum • Stimson Center . 2024-10-28 . Stimson Center . en-US.
4. Web site: July 10, 1995 . ADAMS NATIONAL BANK AWAITS A REBIRTH .
5. Web site: May 3, 1998 . THE BIG SPLIT AT ADAMS .
6. Web site: March 4, 1977 . Barbara Blum Biography EPA .
7. Web site: Environmental Protection Agency Nomination of Douglas M. Costie To Be Administrator and Barbara Blum To Be Deputy Administrator The American Presidency Project . 2024-10-28 . www.presidency.ucsb.edu.
8. Web site: US EPA . OA . EPA Establishes Hazardous Waste Enforcement and Emergency Response System; Names 60 New Sites . 2024-10-28 . www.epa.gov . en.
9. Web site: May 11, 1978 . AMERICAN MOTORS RECALL IS ANNOUNCED BY E.P.A. .