Steven Koonin Nominated for DOE Under Secretary

Another physicist being nominated to join the US Dept. of Energy by the Obama Administration. Prominent physicist Steven Koonin has been nominated as the Under Secretary of Science at the Dept. of Energy.

Dr. Steven E. Koonin, Nominee for Under Secretary for Science, Department of Energy
Dr. Steven E. Koonin is currently Chief Scientist for BP, plc, where he is responsible for guiding the company's long-range technology strategy, particularly in alternative and renewable energy sources. Koonin joined BP in 2004 following a 29-year career at the California Institute of Technology as a Professor of Theoretical Physics, including a 9-year term as the Institute's Provost. He has served on numerous advisory bodies for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy and its various national laboratories. Koonin's research interests have included theoretical and computational physics, as well as global environmental science. He did his undergraduate work at Caltech and has a PhD from MIT.

I can't ever recall an administration with this many prominent physicists playing major roles in decision making. I would have been happy with someone familiar with science running the DOE, and not just another bureaucrat or a lawyer.

Zz.