Vanessa Lorraine Allen Sutherland is a corporate lawyer and former chairperson of the

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (USCSB), generally referred to as the Chemical Safety Board or CSB, is an independent U.S. federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents. Headquartered in Washing ...

(CSB).

Early life

Sutherland was born at

Sibley Memorial Hospital Sibley Memorial Hospital is a non-profit hospital located in The Palisades neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and is licensed by the District of Columbia De ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

She lived in

Tantallon, Maryland Tantallon is an unincorporated community in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Although a separate community, it is a part of the census-designated place (CDP) of Fort Washington. The ZIP code for the community is 20744. Tantallon ...

, where she attended Queen Anne School. She graduated from high school at the age of 16 and enrolled at

Drew University Drew University is a private university in Madison, New Jersey. Drew has been nicknamed the "University in the Forest" because of its wooded campus. As of fall 2020, more than 2,200 students were pursuing degrees at the university's three scho ...

, where she received a B.A. in political science and art history, and later attended

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, where she received a J.D. and M.B.A. After graduating from college, she moved to

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of the downtown Washington, DC. As of the 2020 census it had a popul ...

Career

After graduating from Drew, Sutherland worked at the office of the Inspector General of the Department of Energy prior to attending law school. While attending American University, she served as an associate at

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is one of two agencies that supply deposit insurance to depositors in American depository institutions, the other being the National Credit Union Administration, which regulates and insures cred ...

and a clerk at

Fulbright & Jaworski Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. (now Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP), was founded in Houston, TX in 1919 by R.C. Fulbright. On June 3, 2013, the firm became part of the global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, a Swiss verein. Norton Rose Fulbright US L ...

. After graduating from law school, she worked as a corporate attorney at the telecommunications company

MCI Inc. MCI, Inc. (subsequently Worldcom and MCI WorldCom) was a telecommunications company. For a time, it was the second largest long-distance telephone company in the United States, after AT&T. Worldcom grew largely by acquiring other telecommunic ...

At this company, she became vice president and deputy general counsel of

Digex Digex, Inc. was one of the first Internet service providers in the United States. During the dot-com bubble, its stock price rose to $184 per share; the company was acquired for $1 per share a few years later. History Digital Express Group, pred ...

, a subsidiary. She later worked as a

counsel A counsel or a counsellor at law is a person who gives advice and deals with various issues, particularly in legal matters. It is a title often used interchangeably with the title of ''lawyer''. The word ''counsel'' can also mean advice given ...

for the tobacco product producer

Altria Altria Group, Inc. (previously known as Philip Morris Companies, Inc.) is an American corporation and one of the world's largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes and related products. It operates worldwide and is headquartered in ...

(formerly Philip Morris Companies, Inc.). In 2011, Sutherland began government service as chief counsel for the

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) is a United States Department of Transportation agency created in 2004, responsible for developing and enforcing regulations for the safe, reliable, and environmentally sound opera ...

Chemical Safety Board

Sutherland was nominated by President Barack Obama to the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in March 2015 after the resignation of Rafael Moure-Eraso over allegations of mismanagement. She was confirmed by the Senate in August 2015. In 2017, Sutherland was chairperson of the agency when the Trump administration attempted to defund the CSB for the

2018 United States federal budget The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2018, which ran from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018, was named America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again. It was the first budget proposed by newly elected president ...

. In March 2018, the

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

informed Sutherland that the Trump administration had again proposed to shut down the agency as part of the

2019 United States federal budget The United States federal budget for fiscal year 2019 ran from October 1, 2018, to September 30, 2019. Five appropriation bills were passed in September 2018, the first time five bills had been enacted on time in 22 years, with the rest of the g ...

. This caused Sutherland to resign despite having two years left in her five-year term. After leaving the CSB, Sutherland joined

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

as a vice president. The agency was ultimately not defunded after the

House Appropriations Committee The United States House Committee on Appropriations is a committee of the United States House of Representatives that is responsible for passing appropriation bills along with its Senate counterpart. The bills passed by the Appropriations Commi ...

opposed the Trump administration's proposal and proposed a $1 million increase in the agency's 2019 budget. Kristen Kulinowski became the interim executive after Sutherland's departure until Katherine Lemos was confirmed as chair in March 2020. CSB says it closed thirteen incident investigations under Sutherland.

References

External links

Hearing on the nomination of Vanessa Sutherland to be a member and chairperson of the Chemical Safety Board
from the U.S. Government Publishing Office
PDF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sutherland, Vanessa Allen United States Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board Drew University alumni American University alumni Obama administration personnel Corporate lawyers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)