Biography

[EPA press release - April 30, 1973]

Robert W. Fri, 37, was named Acting Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency today by William D. Ruckelshaus.

Ruckelshaus, who has resigned as Administrator to become Acting Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, also appointed John R. Quarles, Jr. as Acting Deputy Administrator of EPA.

Fri had served as Deputy Administrator of EPA under Ruckelshaus since June 15, 1971. Quarles has been Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and General Counsel of EPA since February 11, 1971.

In accepting the appointment, Fri said that the existing staff of the Administrator's office will remain. "Thus, I anticipated the top management functions of the Agency will continue to be performed without disruption," he said.

"I foresee no shift in policy nor slackening of pace as we pass through this transition. Our job is too important to hesitate for even a moment in pursuing our goal of environmental quality. I am confident of the Agency's continued success," Fri declared.

As Deputy Administrator of EPA, Fri on numerous occasions has represented Ruckelshaus at official meetings and has conducted press conferences on the Administrator's behalf. He presided at the opening of the EPA hearings March 5 on transportation controls proposed to reduce air pollution in the Los Angeles region. Fri played a big role in helping to formulate key EPA actions protecting the environment.

Born November 16, 1935 in Kansas City, Kansas, Fri graduated from Rice University, Houston, Texas, Phi Beta Kappa (B.A., 1957) and from Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration (M.B.A., 1959). Fri was a Baker Scholar at Harvard. He entered the United States Naval Reserve after graduation and served in the Navy until 1963.

Fri became an Associate with McKinsey and Company, Inc., Washington, D.C. in 1963. He specialized with McKinsey in the field of organization and management. He became a Principal of McKinsey in 1968. While with McKinsey, he was responsible for directing the firm's management consulting assignments in the public sector, and has worked on projects with the Office of Management and Budget, Treasury Department, Commerce Department, Peace Corps and Labor Department.

Fri is married to the former Jill Landon of Wheeling, West Virginia. They are parents of three sons, and the family lives in Sumner, Maryland.