Lisa Perez Jackson biography

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Chemical engineer. Born February 8, 1962, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lisa Perez Jackson, a chemical engineer by training, made history in early 2009 when she was confirmed as Administrator of the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA), the first African-American ever to lead the department.

Jackson was adopted at two weeks old by postal worker Benjamin Perez and his wife, Marie, a secretary. Jackson grew up with two brothers in New Orleans, in the middle-class black suburb of Pontchartrain Park.

While her immediate world didn't surround her with the depths of poverty and environmental issues that other parts of her city faced, Jackson was not unaware of how some of her fellow New Orleans residents lived. "She realized the differences and she knew that there were some people that didn't have the same things she had," her mother told the Associated Press. "She always realized that neighborhoods were different, she realized as she got older ... waterways and our pollution and our canals and the oil refineries and the drilling ... [are] detrimental to people."

Jackson, whose father passed away when she was in 10th grade, attended St. Mary's Dominican High School, an all-girls' Catholic institution. From there she made the leap to Tulane University where, as one of the few black women in her class, she studied chemical engineering.

Jackson was a self-described "geek", who didn't settle for mediocrity in the classroom. After graduating summa cum laude from Tulane's School of Chemical Engineering in 1983, Jackson moved north to Princeton University for her master's. She followed up her degree with a two-year stint at Clean Sites, Inc., a non-profit that manages environmental cleanup projects, many of them associated with the Superfund program. She then went to work for the EPA's Superfund program, making a name for herself as one of its staff engineers.

In 2002, Jackson joined New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as an assistant commissioner. She was appointed to the top post in 2006.

As head of the DEP, Jackson brought what The New York Times described as a "policy-driven approach" to the job. It also required some political know-how. New Jersey's relationship with chemical companies is a complicated one, that has made it one of the most polluted states in the country. When Jackson stepped in as head of the DEP, the agency was bitterly divided politically over what it could do and what it should do to address the state's environmental problems.

Jackson, however, knew where she stood. She went hard after polluters in some of the state's more environmentally devastated areas, and set New Jersey on an ambitious path to curb emissions to 80 percent below 2006 levels by 2050. In addition, during her time as DEP head, more than 900 miles of state waterways were given the highest protection allowed under the Clean Water Act.