James “Jim” A. Rispoli is a civil engineer by education and experience, with additional graduate degrees in engineering and in business. Having served over 30 years in the uniform of our country, first as an Air Force civil engineering officer, and then as a Navy Civil Engineer Corps officer, he served both at overseas locations as well as at Navy installations in the U.S. Upon retirement from the Navy as a Captain, Civil Engineer Corps, he moved to the private sector where he was managing principal of one engineering company, and then president of a second engineering company, both located in Hawaii. Invited to join the Department of Energy in 1999, he returned to government service as a civilian, and attained Senior Executive Service status as Director, Office of Engineering and Construction Management. When the Honorable Sam Bodman became Secretary of Energy in 2005, he asked Rispoli to consider a Presidential appointment to become Assistant Secretary of Energy with the Environmental Management, at the time between $6 billon and $7 billion per year program. Rispoli served in this position for the balance of the George W. Bush Administration's second term, leaving the Department of Energy in early 2009. He then returned to the private sector, serving as President & CEO of another engineering firm for three years, and remaining with that company until early 2022. He is now focused on teaching two graduate-level engineering courses at North Carolina State University, which he has been doing since 2017. Additionally, he has been active in volunteer work, such as committees of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and the Knights of Columbus doing charitable works.
Rispoli serves on EMAB as a special government employee. He provides expert advice on large project planning, contracting, management, and risk assessment.