Rhea Suh

Suh was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado by Korean immigrants who left the country after the Korean War. Suh's father, Chung Ha Suh,[3] worked as automotive engineering specialist at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and her mother, Young Ja Suh, was a homemaker.[4] She also has two sisters, Betty and Maggie.[2]

She graduated from Barnard College of Columbia University in 1992.[5] While a student at Barnard, Suh taught earth science at Stuyvesant High School.[2] She was a Fulbright scholar to South Korea, where she studied environmental movements.[6] After returning to the United States, Suh worked as a legislative assistant for Ben Nighthorse Campbell.[7] She then attended Harvard Kennedy School, and her graduate school project focused on helping the U.S. National Park Service through establishing a formal education program at schools around the country.[8]

Suh worked at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, where she created and managed a program dedicated to environmental conservation and clean energy and coordinated energy conservation efforts of various nonprofits across the Colorado River Basin.[1]

She then worked at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she led the effort to create the Great Bear Rainforest and spearheaded conservation and clean energy initiatives.[1]

On March 25, 2009, she was nominated by President Barack Obama for the position of Assistant Secretary for Policy Management and Budget at the United States Department of the Interior.[8] The senate confirmed her nomination.[9]

In 2013, President Obama nominated Suh to serve as Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks but her nomination faced opposition from the Republicans.[10] She was also criticized by The Wall Street Journal for her stance against fossil fuels.[11] Although her nomination was approved by the United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources,[12] her nomination was held up in the United States Senate and was withdrawn.[13][14]

After she resigned from her post in 2014, Suh became the third president of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), replacing Frances Beinecke.[14] She assumed her post in January 2015.[1] Under her leadership, the NRDC helped steer high-level talks leading up to the Paris Agreement, championed a settlement for the residents of Flint, Michigan,[6] and was a partner for the Women's March on Washington.[15]

Suh stepped down from her position as president on June 30, 2019.[16] She is a current fellow of the Walton Family Foundation.[17]

Suh is married to Michael Carroll and has one daughter, Yeumi.[3] She and her family live in Washington, D.C.[18]