On August 14, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate Cynthia L. Quarterman to become the Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the Department of Transportation.

Quarterman was born and raised in Savannah, GA and attended A. E. Beach High School, where she was Miss Beach and graduated with honors in 1979. Her parents are the late Bernice and Rudolph Quarterman, Sr. Her siblings still reside in Savannah with their families.

Quarterman graduated from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 1983, and worked for a year as an engineer for IBM in Owego, New York. She graduated from Columbia University with a JD in 1987. She joined Steptoe & Johnson LLP, an American Lawyer 100 law firm, in 1988.

Quarterman served as Deputy Director (1993-95) of the Minerals Management Service at the Department of the Interior during the Clinton Administration, and became its first female Director in 1995, a position she held until February 1999. In September 1999, she returned as a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP where she has been ever since.

After the 2008 election, Quarterman took a short leave of absence to work on the Obama transition team at the Department of Energy.

Quarterman is married to Pantelis Michalopoulos, one of her law firm partners,

and they have a daughter, Charis, who is almost 3 years old.

The Quarteman’s currently reside in Washington, DC.