Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK) has announced that Michael Barrett has been appointed as the new Executive Director of ADK, which will be effective in November. The appointment was unanimously approved by the ADK Board of Directors at its September 28, 2019 meeting the announcement said.

Barrett is a former foreign language interrogator for the United States Army. He went on to obtain his law degree in 2002 before serving as an attorney to the NYS Assembly Codes Committee. He later held executive-level positions in both the Spitzer and Paterson administrations.

After moving to Missouri, he worked as counsel to the Department of Natural Resources before becoming Deputy General Counsel to Governor Jeremiah “Jay” Nixon, a position he held for three years before being selected as the Director of the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency. For the past four-plus years, Michael served as the Director of the Missouri State Public Defender System, which included functioning as both the systems’ lobbyist and public information officer.

Barrett, who describes himself as an avid outdoorsman and paddler, is expected to return to New York later this fall.

ADK’s previous Executive Director and current Chief Executive Officer, Neil Woodworth, will be remaining with ADK for several months to facilitate the transition and is expected to remain as counsel to ADK for the near future.