New governor names two cabinet secretaries

Gov. Roy Cooper named two leaders to his administration this week as he builds his team to lead North Carolina over the next four years.

To lead the Department of Environmental Quality, Cooper has selected Michael Regan, a leader in environmental advocacy with experience in working with energy and businesses.

Regan served as Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund and National Director of the Energy Efficiency Southeast Climate & Energy Policy from 2008-2016. He also worked with the EPA on air quality for the Clinton and Bush administrations from 1998-2008.

He is a native of eastern North Carolina and a graduate of North Carolina A&T University with a master’s degree in public administration from George Washington University.

“Michael Regan has the environmental background to know that protecting state resources is vital to our state’s health and economic climate,” Cooper said. “He also has the government experience and diplomacy to understand that working together is the way to get things done.”

Cooper named Jim Trogdon, an engineer with decades of leadership in state government and the military, to lead the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Trogdon had served as Chief Operating Officer for the DOT before his retirement in 2013 and as Director of Strategic Transportation planning for the N.C. General Assembly. He leaves his current work at SAS Institute as National Transportation Director to lead the DOT.

Trogdon is a major general who holds a master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, as well as two civil engineering degrees from N.C. State University.

“Jim Trogdon knows North Carolina’s transportation successes and challenges better than anyone, and he will bring technical know-how and smart solutions to the job,” Cooper said. “Our state’s growing population and business climate need good roads and smart mass transit, and he will lead the way.”

Cooper today also installed experienced managers to temporarily supervise state cabinet agencies. These appointees will oversee state departments while the process for appointing cabinet secretaries is completed.

Cooper has asked the following individuals to serve as caretaker supervisors of the following departments:

“We’re hitting the ground running by making sure veteran managers are in place across state agencies,” Cooper said. “I’m grateful these experienced public servants have agreed to serve temporarily.”