Environmental Science Faculty

A. James Barnes Professor Dean of the School, 1988-2000 Adjunct Professor of Law J.D., Harvard University, 1967

Professor Barnes’ teaching interests include environmental law, environmental policy, commercial law, alternative dispute resolution, ethics and the public official, and law and public policy. He currently teaches both in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and in the Indiana University School of Law. He has written, testified and spoken extensively on environmental issues, consults on a variety of environmental matters, and mediates environmental disputes.

He serves as the chair of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Finance Advisory Board (EFAB) and as a member of the Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Advisory Board (EMAB).

Prof. Barnes is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is currently serving on an Academy panel that is providing advice to the Executive Branch on processes for developing environmental and natural resource indicators. He recently served on other Academy panels (1) that provided advice to Congress on desirable changes in how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should change its method of prioritizing water resource projects and (2) that provided advice to EPA as to how it might better factor environmental justice considerations into its permitting processes.

From 1988 to 2000, he served as dean of the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. During this time it was ranked third among public affairs programs by U.S. News & World Report and first in environmental policy. New programs in non-profit management and information technology were developed during his tenure.

From 1985 to 1988, Prof. Barnes served as the Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection, the agency’s number two official and its chief operating officer. From 1963 to 1985, he was the EPA General Counsel, and in the early 1970s, he participated in the formation of EPA and served as the chief of staff to its first Administrator, William D. Ruckelshaus.

Prof. Barnes also served as General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1983. He also served in the Civil Division, as well as the Deputy Attorney General’s office, in the U.S. Department of Justice. For six years, form 1975 to 1981, he had an environmental law, commercial and litigation practice with the firm of Beveridge and Diamond in Washington, DC.

For a number of years he was the vice-president of America’s Clean Water Foundation, as well as a trustee of the National Institute for Global Environmental Change (NIGEC).

He was a member of the Board of Directors of the Long Island Lighting Co. (LILCO), NYSE listed public utility, from 1992 until 1998 when it merged with another utility and became Keyspan. Since 1970, he has been the co-author of several business law textbooks, one now in its 12th edition and another in its 9th edition.

Recent Publications

Barnes, A. James, Jane Mallor, Thomas Bowers, and Arlen Langvardt. (2006). Business Law: The Ethical, Global and E-Commerce Environment. McGraw-Hill/Irwin (13th edition).

Barnes, A. James, Terry Dworkin, and Eric Richards. (2005). Law for Business. McGraw-Hill/Irwin (9th edition).

Barnes, A. James, Terry Dworkin, and Eric Richards. (2005). Instructor's Manual for Law for Business. McGraw-Hill/Irwin (9th edition).

Barnes, A. James. (2003). Addressing Community Concerns: How Environmental Justice Relates to Land Use Planning and Zoning. National Academy of Public Administration Report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Barnes, A. James. (2002). Models for Change: Efforts by Four States to Address Environmental Justice. National Academy of Public Administration Report. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.