DOE, DOD Nominations

Within the past month, the Administration has announced two nominations that are of interest to the science and technology community. Both will require Senate confirmation, but when that will occur is an open question. Congress returns next week from August recess, but will have its hands full trying to finish up the appropriations bills before the start of the new fiscal year on October 1.

DOE UNDER SECRETARY: President Clinton plans to nominate Ernest Moniz to be Under Secretary of the Department of Energy. Moniz currently chairs MIT’s Physics Department. He has held this position since 1991, with a respite from July 1995 to January 1997 when he served in Washington, D.C. as the Associate Director for Science in the Administration’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP.)

Moniz has a PhD in theoretical physics from Stanford University. He has served on numerous advisory committees, organized international conferences, and received Fellowships from The American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

The July 31 White House press release announcing the President’s intent to nominate Moniz states that, as DOE Under Secretary, he will be “responsible for the issue areas of science and technology, environment, national security, and fundamental research. The Under Secretary will promote streamlining and management reform of the DOE national laboratories, which are a critical resource for the research and development enterprise of the Department and the nation. In this position, Dr. Moniz will be responsible for integrating the laboratories into a cohesive national system and for strengthening the links to academia and the private sector, while further enhancing laboratory core competencies. The Under Secretary will also oversee national security and non-proliferation issues and provide the Secretary with critical advice in carrying out his responsibility of assuring the security of the nation’s nuclear stockpile.”

DOD UNDER SECRETARY FOR ACQUISITION AND TECHNOLOGY: On August 1, President Clinton declared his intention of nominating Jacques Gansler as Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology. Gansler is currently the Vice Chair of the Defense Science Board. Since 1977 he has been the Executive Vice President and Director of an applied information technology company, TASC. Prior to that, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Material Acquisition.

Gansler’s education includes an M.S. in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, and a PhD in economics from the American University. The White House press release on his nomination says, “As Under Secretary for Acquisition and Technology, Dr. Gansler will be the principal staff assistant for the Secretary for all matters relating to the acquisition of weapons and material, including research and development, testing and evaluation, production, logistics, military construction and procurement.”