WEF Appoints Deputy Executive Director And New Chief Technical Officer
Dr. Eileen O'Neill Assumes Number Two Position, Matt Ries Heads Technical Programs
The Water Environment Federation (WEF) is pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Eileen O'Neill to the position of deputy executive director and the promotion of Matthew Ries to chief technical officer. The announcement comes as the organization aligns resources to support emerging initiatives.
As deputy executive director, O'Neill will focus on pursuing innovation opportunities and global and academic relations, as well as supporting WEF Executive Director Jeff Eger in his responsibilities. Serving most recently as WEF's chief technical officer, O'Neill joined the Federation in 1991 as manager of industrial programs and steadily increased her responsibilities through a succession of positions including industrial programs director, director-international, and assistant deputy executive director.
"Eileen is a tremendous talent, and I am very excited about being able to work alongside her to fulfill many of our new strategic initiatives," said Eger.
Prior to joining WEF, where her many achievements include leading the development of grant funding for WEF's international and technical programs and the concept for the WEF Water Science and Engineering Center, O'Neill was a professor at a college of agriculture in the United Kingdom and worked for various environmental consultants in the United States and UK. She has a B.S. in Soil Science from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (UK) and a Ph.D. in Soil Science from the University of Aberdeen (UK). O'Neill also undertook a post doctoral traineeship in Environmental Toxicology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and is the author of more than 25 book chapters, magazine articles, conference papers, and peer-reviewed scientific papers.
In his new assignment as chief technical officer, Ries will fulfill many of the responsibilities formerly held by O'Neill. This will include oversight of technical programming and development for WEFTEC, (WEF's Annual Technical Exhibition and Conference), as well as educational, training, periodicals, publications and web-based initiatives. While at WEF, he has been instrumental in launching the Federation's sustainability and stormwater initiatives. In addition, his staff serves as liaisons to more than 20 technical committees and three communities of practice.
"Matt is well qualified to take on this new assignment and a welcome addition to our leadership team," said Eger.
Before joining WEF in 2005 as managing director of technical & educational services, Ries was a consultant in the planning, design, construction, and startup of water, wastewater, stormwater, and industrial facilities. A registered professional engineer, he holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Valparaiso University (Ind.), an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Notre Dame (Ind.), and was recently admitted to the doctoral program at the University of South Florida.
"With Eileen and Matt in their new roles, WEF is even better positioned to drive opportunities for innovation in the water sector, enhance member services, education, and training, and increase awareness of the value of water," added Eger. "I'm confident in their abilities to help take WEF to the next level."
About WEF
Formed in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit technical and educational organization with 36,000 individual members and 75 affiliated Member Associations representing water quality professionals around the world. WEF and its Member Associations proudly work to achieve our mission of preserving and enhancing the global water environment. For more information, visit www.wef.org.
SOURCE: Water Environment Federation (WEF) - WEFTEC