Some people prefer work they can leave behind at the end of the day. That's definitely not the case for Timothy Fields Jr. (industrial engineering '70). As assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and head of the Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response (OSWER), Fields thrives on never knowing what might come next. One day he might be briefing the president in the oval office or preparing the vice president for a presentation to Congress. The next, he might be forced to drop everything in response to an explosion that released toxic chemicals.

"I've gotten used to working nights and weekends as needed to respond to emergency events, and my family has adapted to it," said Fields. (Fields has a devoted wife of 28 years, Emma, and a son, Stephen, who also graduated from Tech.) Fields' office addresses roughly 300 chemical spills and 50-100 oil spills each year in the U.S., as well as a host of other emergency situations that exceed state and local capabilities. "When you're in the emergency response business, you have to anticipate that sometimes your day will not go as planned."

Fields could hardly have anticipated what was in store for him on March 24, 1989, for example, when the Exxon Valdese oil tanker spilled almost 11 million gallons of crude oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound. He soon found himself traveling from island to island in the sound, helping to direct the cleanup of the largest oil spill in U.S. history and one of the most environmentally damaging worldwide.

"On many days we worked late into the night, overseeing the crews, scrubbing the beaches, and trying to remove oil from the soil and rocks," said Fields. Under E.P.A. and Coast Guard oversight, the Exxon cleanup crews eventually recovered more than 2-million gallons of oil from the water and shore. Cleanup crews also saved numerous ducks, geese, sea otters, and other threatened wildlife in those few first months. "Many animals died, but many others were able to be recovered because we got to them in time."

Not all calls are as drastic as this one, and not every day finds Fields juggling priorities to respond to a national emergency. In addition to meeting the challenge of the unexpected, Fields enjoys another aspect of his positionbeing able to produce tangible environmental improvements. "The projects I administer all involve things that people can see. People can't always see air pollution, but they can see an old abandoned steel mill or soil contaminated with metal-finishing waste. And they can see the results when we clean that contaminated property."

Two projects in particular have resulted in numerous environmental gains under Fields' leadership: the Superfund toxic waste cleanup program and the Brownfields initiative. Fields began implementing a series of administrative reforms to the Superfund program in the early '90s. Innovations such as using natural biological processes to decontaminate the soil have reduced cleanup costs by 20 percent, and cleanup time per site has also decreased 20 percent. "It has become a fundamentally different program, working faster, cheaper, and more efficiently for the American public," said Fields. Today, EPA has cleaned more than half the toxic sites on the national priorities list.

The Brownfields initiative grew out of administrative reforms to the Superfund program. Brownfields are abandoned industrial sites that are revitalized by EPA funding and technical assistance--an old factory becomes a new soccer field, for example, or a thriving industrial center. "What gives me great pleasure is that we're not only helping to clean the environment, we're helping to revitalize communities and create economic redevelopment for major urban areas," said Fields. In the past five years, the office has provided technical and financial assistance to address Brownfield sites in more than 500 cities. Under Fields' leadership, the EPA Brownfields program recently received the prestigious Harvard University and Ford Foundation Innovations in Government Award for the first time in EPA history.

Fields' commitment to producing tangible results, and to working as long and late as it takes to get the job done, has earned him the honor of being the only EPA official to win prestigious Presidential Rank Award four times. This is the highest civilian service award available to government employees and recognizes outstanding leadership of programs that have produced concrete, long-term benefits. Candidates must be nominated by their agency heads and approved by the president. In the past 12 years, Fields has been nominated by two different EPA administrators and approved for the award by both Republican and the Democratic administrations--twice by former President Bush and twice by President Clinton.

"I feel very fortunate that I've been recognized by two presidents and very proud that my work has been appreciated to such an extent," said Fields. "It's a great personal accomplishment, but what I'm really proud of is the recognition for the programs that I administer."

Fields discovered he wanted to be a government servant during his days as an undergraduate at Virginia Tech. He credits a great deal of

his success to the mentoring he received from Tech's 14th president, Paul E. Torgersen (then head of industrial engineering). "I learned a lot about what it takes to be a successful manager from Dr. Torgersen but also a lot about having a commitment to serve others. I recognized that I really wanted to do something to benefit my fellow citizens," he said.

When Fields joined the celebration of the first Earth Day in 1970, he learned exactly what that something was. The EPA was created one year later, and it provided the ideal forum for combining his aspiration to serve with his commitment to the growing environmental movement. He has worked in various capacities with the EPA since its inception and has served in his current position since 1997.

Today, a career goal "honed in the classrooms of Virginia Tech" is being realized by a person whose leadership and initiatives continue to improve the nation's environment while saving billions for taxpayers at the same time. "You've got to believe in doing the right thing," Fields said. "You've always got to keep in mind that your mandate, your number one priority, is to show the American people that you're going to protect them and you're going to protect their environment."