on campus - Article - Manhattan College

38 manhattan.edu
Expert Environmentalist Has Global Presence
At any given time, Michael P. Walsh
’66 could be found on a plane to Brazil,
China or Mexico, where he meets with
government officials to solve their
pollution problems. Walsh is readily the
go-to expert on air quality and vehicle
emissions control.
Recently named one of 25 recipients
of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship,
Walsh is an independent engineer and
policy analyst who has committed his
professional life to improving public
health and the global environment.
Responsible for shaping legislation that
significantly reduced lead emissions
in the United States, he has developed
a reputation for finding effective and
practical solutions to public policy
problems. Because of his expertise in
the area, government agencies around
the world tap Walsh to improve the air
quality in their countries.
As a MacArthur Fellow, he will
receive $500,000 from the John D.
and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
in support of his work and research
during the next five years.
“This is a tremendous honor,” says
Walsh, who just returned from a trip to
Brazil at the time of this interview. He
currently is working closely with Brazil,
China and Mexico on the national and
local levels of government to devise
pollution control programs and emissions
standards. In China, Walsh has been busy
helping to develop a retrofit program
for diesel-fueled buses and trucks and
responding to the pollution problems in
Beijing, especially as it gears up to host
the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Walsh, 62, has created quite a
consulting career for himself in an
area that, he admits, has not yet been
flooded with competition.
“There are a lot of consulting
companies in the vehicle pollution area,
but I don’t know anyone else who does
what I do, which is advise governments,”
he says.
Although these days Walsh is typically
advising foreign governments, he began
his career on U.S. soil.
He attended Manhattan College as
a commuter student, spending several
hours each day riding the subway to and
from Queens and Van Cortlandt Park.
Walsh, who worked on the weekends at
his father’s candy store, was the first
from his family to attend college.
Reflecting back on his college
days, Walsh says he received a solid
engineering education at Manhattan
but more importantly, “a set of core
values that have been invaluable to
me throughout my life.”
“I have been blessed to be able to
make a living and to raise three fine
children while doing work that I consider
important and valuable,” he adds.
Walsh graduated from the College in
1966 with a mechanical engineering
degree and immediately was drafted
into the U.S. Army. Two years later,
he accepted a job at an automotive
research lab in New Jersey. Little
did he know this would be his entry
into a burgeoning career handling
environmental issues.
“It was 1968…and at that time, the
whole environmental movement was just
beginning,” Walsh says. 1968, he says,
also marks the first year the United
States imposed stringent emissions
requirements on cars. Walsh suddenly
found himself in the midst of exciting
change, and the issues surrounding the
environment immediately captivated his
interest. From there, his career blossomed.
In 1970, the City of New York
established a motor vehicle control
laboratory, and Walsh, a native New
Yorker, returned to the city to join its
efforts, which became his introduction
to the government. Four years later, Walsh
joined the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), where he was instrumental
in establishing the first diesel particulate
standard — a major milestone in beginning
the cleaning process of diesel-fueled
vehicles. At the EPA, he worked closely
with many developing countries to
secure pollution control programs.
There have been so many advances
in vehicle pollution control, and Walsh
says it is a great feeling to know that
his involvement had something to do
with the positive results.
Since he left the EPA in 1981, Walsh
has continued to advise governments on
air quality issues and vehicle pollution
matters. In addition to relationships
with Brazil, China and Mexico, Walsh’s
impressive clientele includes the American
Lung Association, the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development
and the United Nations Environment
Program, among others. His publication,
Car Lines, is widely recognized by
governments, manufacturers and
research institutions as a vital resource
for information on emissions control
and trends in regulatory policies.