John R. Quarles Jr., former environmental partner and firm chair of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, died October 29 at the age of 77.
Before joining Morgan Lewis as a partner in 1977, Quarles held several positions in the U.S. government. He joined the U.S. Department of the Interior as assistant to the undersecretary of the Interior for environmental planning in 1969. He also worked on President Richard Nixon’s first environmental message to Congress in 1970, and assisted in forming the Environmental Protection Agency that same year, according to a memorial Web page created by Morgan Lewis. Quarles served as deputy administrator of the EPA for four years, with two stints as acting administrator.
