Dorothy Bowers, a chemical engineer, was Vice President of Environmental Policy when she retired from Merck & Co., Inc at the end of 1999 after 25 years with the company. At Merck she led the development of the environmental department and initiated public environmental reporting beginning in the early 1990s which led to the company's first Sustainability Report. She recently completed a three year term as chair of the National Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology, the technology/policy advisory council for the EPA Administrator. She also continues her pioneering role in the development of environmental management systems.
Her involvement with international standardization of EMS's began with the creation of ISO TC-207 by the International Standards Organization. She was chosen by the US to lead the Sub-Committee 4, Environmental Performance Evaluation which successfully completed its Standard, ISO14031, and a Technical Report, ISO 14032. She is currently the chair of the Technical Advisory Group leading the US participation in ISO TC-207. She has been assigned a variety of responsibilities by the Technical Committee, including roles as the chair of the first ad hoc study group on participation by developing nations, co-chair of the Future Vision Task Force and the Strategic Planning Group, co-chair of the Corporate Social Responsibility Task Force, and co-chair of the NGO Task Force.
Dorothy is Vice-Chair of New Jersey Future, a smart-growth advocacy organization; Chairman of the operating Board of Trustees of the Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey; a member of the Board of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey; and a founding Board member for the recently formed Conservation Resources, Inc.
