Beth Turner, Director of Safety, Health, and Environment for DuPont in Wilmington, Delaware, received her M.S. in Environmental Sciences and Engineering from Virginia Tech in 1973.



After joining DuPont 26 years ago, Ms. Turner spent the first 15 years of her career in environmental engineering technical and supervisory roles at various DuPont facilities in Virginia. For many years, she was responsible for process engineering, design and construction coordination, and operations supervision of a major industrial wastewater treatment facility. Ms. Turner coordinated regulatory, occupational health, and environmental affairs for all DuPont facilities in Virginia and, later, in the Southeastern United States. She also worked with state regulatory authorities to develop Virginia's first hazardous air emissions regulatory program.



While residing in Virginia, Ms. Turner received gubernatorial appointments to the Shenandoah River Basin Commission and to three terms on the Board for the Certification of Water and Wastewater Works Operators. She also served a number of years on the State Air Pollution Control Board Advisory Committee on Hazardous Air Pollutant Regulations and on the State Advisory Board of Air Pollution.



In 1988, Ms. Turner relocated to corporate headquarters in Delaware where, as a manager in DuPont Engineering, she deployed the company's 600 internal engineering consultants in developing multi-disciplined solutions and innovative technology for corporate pollution prevention opportunities. She was then appointed to manage DuPont Engineering's wastewater treatment and solid waste consultants, who provide capital project conceptual design and day-to-day consulting expertise to the company's wastewater treatment facilities and solid waste management operations.



For the past six years, Ms. Turner has held a number of senior corporate leadership positions in the DuPont Safety, Health, and Environment (SHE) Excellence Center, where global corporate SHE policy and strategic direction are developed. Ms. Turner leads the process for developing this policy and the integration of process safety, employee health and safety, product stewardship, distribution safety, environment, and community outreach programs through DuPont's global Responsible Care commitment. She also actively mentors young DuPont engineers.



For many years, Ms. Turner has been active in the Water Environment Federation (WEF), an international environmental engineering organization of 40,000 water quality professionals from consulting, academia, government, and operations. After serving as President of the Virginia chapter, she began working with national and international WEF government affairs, industrial waste, and technical programs, and became a member of the Executive Committee and Board of Control. As an elected officer, including a term as international WEF President from 1987-88, Ms. Turner represented the environmental engineering profession in public and professional arenas in the U.S. and abroad. Her leadership team implemented a number of major programs that continue today, including a peer-reviewed research journal, a water research foundation that currently leverages $50 million in research, an annual wastewater operations skill competition, and major expansion of WEF's international activities.



While a student at Virginia Tech, Ms. Turner was active in the Student Union, the University Centennial Convocation Committee, and was chosen for several academic honor societies. As an alumna, she has been a member of the College of Engineering Committee of 100 since its inception and was named one of the Women Leaders at Virginia Tech on the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of Women at the University. Beth Turner still has strong ties to Virginia-her parents, John and May Turner, live in Abingdon.