Camille Calimlim Touton, a 2015 Schar School alumna of the Master’s in Public Policy program, has been nominated to lead the agency that oversees water and power in the U.S. West.
President Joe Biden announced his choice of Touton, a veteran congressional water policy advisor, as next commissioner of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, which supplies water to 31 million people and power to 3.5 million homes. The bureau serves 10 million acres of farmland, accounting for 60 percent of the nation’s vegetables and a quarter of the country’s fruit and nuts.
If confirmed, Touton would be the first Filipino American to lead the Bureau of Reclamation.
A native Nevadan, Touton was named deputy commissioner in January after working on water issues for various congressional committees and as a deputy assistant secretary in the Interior Department under the Obama administration.
Prior to joining the Department of the Interior, Touton served as senior professional staff for the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Her congressional experience also includes serving as professional staff for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, the authorizing committees for the Department of the Interior.
ABOUT THE SCHAR SCHOOL
The Schar School of Policy and Government is one of the 10 schools and colleges of George Mason University, with approximately 2,000 students, 90 full-time faculty members, and 23 degree and certificate programs offered on Mason’s campuses in Fairfax and Arlington, Va. Among the degree programs are government and international affairs, public policy, public administration, political science, international security, and international commerce and policy. The Schar School prepares undergraduate and graduate students to be leaders and managers who solve problems and advance the public good in all sectors and levels of government—in the United States and throughout the world.
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