22 Jun 2001 National Center for Public Policy Research Announces New Additions to Environmental, Energy and Regulatory Policy Staff and the Opening of New Office in Chicago

The National Center for Public Policy Research is pleased to announce the addition of new professionals to its environmental, energy and regulatory policy staff and the opening of a National Center office in Chicago, Illinois.

Tom Randall has been appointed director of environmental and regulatory affairs; Gretchen Randall as director of energy and regulatory affairs.

Pearse M. Frazier has also been appointed to the new position of Program Coordinator, Environmental and Regulatory Affairs, and will serve in a support position to Tom and Gretchen Randall.

"Everyone at The National Center for Public Policy Research is very excited to have three persons of this caliber join our policy staff," said Amy Ridenour, president of The National Center. "Gretchen and Tom have a rare combination of policy expertise, contacts in government and writing skills: all qualities that will make them a tremendous asset to our environmental and regulatory affairs department. Pearse Frazier’s writing and research skills also will be a great advantage to our work."

Tom and Gretchen Randall most recently served as partners in the Chicago-based consulting firm of Winningreen. LLC, where they worked with elected officials and policymakers in Washington D.C. and in the state capitols, educating them on environmental issues and helping to craft legislation and policy statements.

Tom Randall also has served as managing editor of Environment & Climate News, a publication of the Chicago-based The Heartland Institute, and written for such publications as the Chicago Sun-Times, the Miami Herald and Chicago Life magazine. As a writer on regulatory and environmental affairs, Randall specializes in translating these complex, often confusing and confused issues into stories that will appeal to the average reader.

Tom Randall has testified before legislative bodies on environmental legislation on both the federal and state levels.

Tom Randall previously served for nine years as president and principal owner of a small, full-service advertising agency, Rank One Communications, Inc., in Chicago, and for 21 years as a business executive with Sears, Roebuck and Co., where he was a national advertising manager and manager of Sears’ sports advisory staff, managing stars such as Ted Williams, Sir Edmund Hillary and Gordie Howe. He also spent two years as a news reporter with the Michigan State News. He has a BA degree in advertising from Michigan State University, 1963.

Gretchen Randall is a free lance writer of environmental stories and has contributed to the Chicago Sun-Times, The Heartland Institute’s Environment and Climate News, and Impact, a magazine of the American Water Resources Association.

Gretchen Randall also serves on a task force for the Environmental & Water Resources Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers that is developing a white paper on the issues relating to the removal of functioning dams.

She also spent 21 years as a business executive for 3M, where she was a senior account representative for ThinsulateTR Thermal Insulation. She has also worked for Bristol Myers and spent 1970-74 as a Junior High School French Teacher in Davenport, Iowa and 1969-70 in Belgium teaching at NATO headquarters.

Gretchen Randall earned an M.B.A. from Loyola University, Chicago, 1985 and a B.A. from the University of Iowa in Iowa City, 1969.

Pearse M. Frazier previously served with The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., as a researcher/writer for the Glencairn Museum in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, and as a writer of case summaries for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office. He has a B.A. in History and Philosophy from the Bryn Athyn College of the New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania.

The Randalls live in Chicago, Illinois and Pentwater, Michigan. They will operate primarily from The National Center’s new Chicago office, while spending a quarter of their time in Washington, D.C. Pearse Frazier will be based in Washington, D.C.

The National Center for Public Policy Research is a non-profit, tax-exempt public policy institute established with offices on Capitol Hill and in Chicago. It has a 5 million annual budget and was established in 1982.