DC Water’s Board of Directors today announced that General Counsel Henderson J. Brown, IV will serve as Acting CEO and General Manager upon the departure of current CEO George S. Hawkins. Hawkins announced his December departure last month.

Henderson Brown rejoined DC Water as General Counsel in March 2016 after originally serving the Authority in the same capacity from 1998-2004. During his first tenure with DC Water, Brown established the legal office and refined the Authority's legal practices and protocols.

“Henderson is extremely familiar with DC Water and every part of its operations and the board has total confidence in his ability to lead this complex and critical organization,” said Tommy Wells, Board Chair and Director of the District Department of Energy and Environment. “He is the ideal person to serve as interim Director while the Board performs a national search for Mr. Hawkins’ successor.”

Mr. Brown holds a Juris Doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor's degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts. He is admitted to the bar in Maryland, the District of Columbia, the United States Fourth District Court for Maryland and the United States Courts of Appeals (Fourth and District of Columbia Circuits).

Today was also the first DC Water Board of Directors meeting to be chaired by new Board Chairman Tommy Wells, who was recently appointed to the post by Mayor Muriel Bowser. Wells was appointed chairman by the mayor after former chairman Matthew Brown left the position to assume the role of Chief Financial Officer at DC Water.