Coastal Commission appoints Charles Lester as new director

The Coastsl Commission has appointed Charles Lester as its new Executive Director. The position was held for the past 26 years by Peter Douglas, who retired last month, reports the Chronicle.

Lester is the commission’s fourth executive director since it was created in 1972. He had served as senior deputy director since 2006 and was named acting director when Douglas, suffering from lung cancer, suddenly stepped down.

Lester, who has a bachelor’s degree in geochemistry from Columbia University, a Ph.D in jurisprudence and social policy from U.C. Berkeley, and a law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law, was an assistant professor of political science at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, before he was hired by the coastal commission in 1997.