NAME: Sally Jewell
AGE: 56
EDUCATION: Graduate of University of Washington, bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, 1978.
FAMILY: Husband, Warren; two grown children. Lives in Seattle.
CAREER: President and chief executive officer, Recreational Equipment Inc., 2005-present; chief operating officer, 2000-2005; president, commercial banking group, Washington Mutual, 1996-2000; president, WestOne Bank, 1992-1995; executive, Rainier Bank/Security Pacific, 1981-1992; engineer, Mobil Oil Corp., 1978-1981.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday nominated outdoor business executive Sally Jewell to lead the Interior Department.
Obama said Jewell, president and chief executive at REI, has earned national recognition for her support of outdoor recreation and habitat conservation. He also noted her experience as an engineer in oil fields and her record of achievement and environmental stewardship at REI, which sells clothing and gear for outdoor use.
“She knows the link between conservation and good jobs. She knows that there’s no contradiction between being good stewards of the land and our economic progress — that, in fact, those two things need to go hand and hand,” Obama said at a White House ceremony.