General DNR News

HANCHEY TO ASSUME DEPUTY SECRETARY DUTIES AT DNR

James "Randy" Hanchey will become the state Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Deputy Secretary beginning April 13. DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell said he welcomes Hanchey with confidence in the leadership role he will provide to the agency. Hanchey is the former director of engineering at the Mississippi Valley division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Vicksburg, MS.

Hanchey recently retired from the Corps after 37 years as a civil engineer, serving from 1961 to 1998. As director of engineering, he led the planning, engineering, construction, operations and real estate activities of the Corps along the Mississippi River. He has devoted ten years to the Mississippi Valley division of the Mississippi River Commission. Hanchey's administrative duties also include directing the Water Resources Support Center and the Institute for Water Resources at Fort Belvoir, Virginia from 1971 to 1989.

In January of this year, he was honored with the Army's prestigious de Fleury Medal citing his individual contribution to Army engineering. He is the 1997 Silver Medal Award recipient of the de Fleury award administered by the U.S. Army Engineer Regiment.

"I greatly appreciate the confidence Secretary Caldwell has placed in me. I am returning to Louisiana at a time when many of the DNR programs and projects are critical to the future of the state and I am ready for the challenges that are ahead of us," Hanchey said.

Hanchey was born in Kinder, LA and graduated from LaGrange High School in Lake Charles. He earned his bachelor of sciences degree in civil engineering from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1961 and his masters degree from Tulane University in 1967.

Additionally, he completed further graduate study in water resources management at Stanford University from 1969 to 1971.

Hanchey replaces Dr. Steve Mathies as the department's Deputy Secretary. Mathies returned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District in January.

Editors: For more information on this topic, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at (504) 342-8955.