PITTSBORO - Michael S. Regan, Secretary of the N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, will be the speaker for the college's second sustainable speaker series in honor of Richard and Rebecca Hayes.

The program, which will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 8, in the Holmes Meeting Room of the Chatham Community Library on the Central Carolina Community College Chatham Main Campus in Pittsboro, is sponsored by the Richard and Rebecca Hayes Endowed Lecture Fund for Environmental Policy and Stewardship through the CCCC Foundation.

As DEQ secretary, Regan oversees the state agency whose mission is to protect North Carolina's environment and natural resources. The organization has offices from the mountains to the coast and administers regulatory and public assistance programs aimed at protecting the quality of North Carolina's air, water and land, its coastal fisheries, and the public's health.

Regan joined the Gov. Roy Cooper administration after more than 18 years of professional experience focused on overcoming complex challenges through environmental advocacy and regulation. Most recently, he served as the Associate Vice President of U.S. Climate and Energy and Southeast Regional Director of the Environmental Defense Fund. He led the Environmental Defense Fund's efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change and air quality pollution.

Prior to that, Regan worked with the Environmental Protection Agency's air quality and energy programs for the Clinton and Bush administrations. Before leaving the agency, Regan served as a national program manager responsible for designing programs aimed at reducing pollution, and market-based solutions to improve energy efficiency, air quality and climate-related challenges.

Regan also founded M. Regan & Associates, LLC, a firm dedicated to helping organizations find transformational solutions to complex energy, environmental and economic challenges.

A native of Goldsboro, Regan has a bachelor's degree in Earth and Environmental Science from N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University and a master's degree in Public Administration from George Washington University.

Richard Hayes has said of the endowment: "We hope that through this endowment, an annual public lecture will be possible at CCCC, to both students and citizens of our community, to provide them with the very best and the very latest science information relating to what is happening to our planet because of global warming; and more importantly, what measures can be and should be taken, by each of us and all of us, to protect and preserve our precious water, soil, and air and the lives both human and animal they support."

CCCC President Dr. T. Eston Marchant says the college is thankful for friends like Richard and Rebecca Hayes. "We are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Hayes for their contributions to the college and to the community," he said.

The CCCC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization affiliated with, but independent of, Central Carolina Community College. It receives donations of money and equipment on behalf of the college and uses them to promote its educational mission and assist students through scholarships and grants.

For more information about the Foundation, its work and events, visit www.cccc.edu/foundation. For more information about classes and programs at Central Carolina Community College, visit www.cccc.edu.