On 17 May, 2013 the US Senate formally confirmed Ernest Moniz, KAPSARC Board member and Director of the MIT Energy Initiative, to be US Secretary of Energy following his nomination by President Obama.

His responsibilities will range from supporting energy-efficiency programs to funding national laboratories. President Obama said of Prof. Moniz that he knows “we can produce more energy and grow our economy while still taking care of our air, our water and our climate.”

Prof. Moniz is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems, and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he has served on the faculty since 1973. As Director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), Prof. Moniz consolidated energy-related research at MIT and gave the Institute a new direction and stronger focus on energy. The MITEI is widely seen as successful and is supported by many private and public organizations.

He served as Under Secretary of the Department of Energy from 1997 to 2001. He also served as Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President from 1995 to 1997. At MIT, Prof. Moniz served as Head of the Department of Physics and as Director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center. His principal research contributions have been in theoretical nuclear physics and in energy technology and policy studies. He serves on President Obama’s Council of Advisors for Science and Technology (PCAST).

As a prerequisite for his appointment to Secretary of Energy, Prof. Moniz resigned from all boards, including the KAPSARC Board of Trustees. His intelligence, committment, and down-to-earth personality will be sorely missed on the BOT. Fortunately, Prof. Moniz remains a strong friend of KAPSARC and its mission. The Center wishes him the best of luck and looks forward to collaborating with him in the future.