(Washington, D.C.) – H. Martin Lancaster (D-NC), who represented coastal North Carolina and many of the state’s military bases for eight years in the U.S. House of Representatives, has joined Dawson & Associates as a Senior Advisor, the firm announced today.
Founded in 1997, Dawson & Associates is the nation’s premier government relations firm for water resources and environmental matters. Rep. Lancaster is the third former Member of Congress at the firm, joining former Reps. John Myers and Sonny Callahan. Former Congressman Tom Bevill was a member of the firm until his death. The firm also includes six retired Flag Officers and more than 30 former or retired officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Office of Management and Budget, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Transportation and Congressional Staff.
From l987 to l995, Rep. Lancaster represented North Carolina’s Third Congressional District, serving on the Armed Services, Small Business and Merchant Marine & Fisheries Committees.
In 1995, President Bill Clinton appointed Mr. Lancaster to be the U.S. Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, a position he held until 1997. His major initiatives during that time involved Everglades restoration, improved relations with Native American tribes, and resolving multiple Northwest fisheries issues.
In 1997, Mr. Lancaster became President of the North Carolina Community College System, a position he held until May 2008. During this time, he oversaw the most significant transition in the System’s history, as it focused on retraining much of the state’s tobacco, textile and furniture workforce for biotechnology and other knowledge/high technology services.
Congressman Lancaster is Of Counsel to the law firm of Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell and Jernigan in Raleigh, North Carolina and also serves on the North Carolina Economic Development Board and the North Carolina Rural Development Council. He has an A.B. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.