Rate My Professor Janet McCabe

Janet McCabe is an environmental policy expert affiliated with the Law faculty at Indiana University Bloomington through her roles at the IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law and the Paul H. O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She rejoined the Indiana University faculty in summer 2025 as Visiting Professor and Executive in Residence at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Distinguished Scholar at the McKinney School of Law, and Senior Policy Advisor at the Environmental Resilience Institute. Previously, from 2017 to 2021, McCabe served as Professor of Practice at the IU McKinney School of Law and Director of the IU Environmental Resilience Institute, where she initiated policy and implementation efforts focused on climate resilience. Her academic background includes an AB from Harvard University in 1980 and a JD from Harvard Law School in 1983. McCabe began her legal career clerking for Justice Neil L. Lynch of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, followed by positions as Assistant Attorney General for environmental protection and Assistant Secretary for environmental impact review in Massachusetts, managing the state’s environmental review statute.

In 1993, McCabe relocated to Indiana, holding various leadership roles in the Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s Office of Air Quality, including Assistant Commissioner, from 1993 to 2005. She then became Executive Director of Improving Kids’ Environment, Inc., an advocacy organization dedicated to children’s environmental health. Joining the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2009 as Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, she advanced to Acting Assistant Administrator from 2013 to 2016, playing a pivotal role in air quality standards and climate initiatives during the Obama administration. From April 2021 to October 2024, she served as EPA Deputy Administrator, overseeing agency management, policy development, and workforce operations. Throughout her career, McCabe has bridged public service, law, and academia, contributing significantly to environmental policy at state, federal, and institutional levels through her expertise in air quality, climate change, and resilience strategies.