Sam Bodman Nominated as Secretary of Energy

December 15, 2004

Photo of Sam Bodman behind a podium, with President Bush looking on from the side

Sam Bodman accepts President Bush's nomination.
Credit: Paul Morse, White House

President George W. Bush nominated Sam Bodman as the new Secretary of Energy on December 10th. Described by President Bush as a "problem solver," Bodman has worked as a professor of chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the president of an investment firm, and as the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Cabot Corporation, a global chemical company. Over the past four years, Bodman has served the Bush administration as Deputy Secretary of Commerce and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury. At the Department of Commerce, Deputy Secretary Bodman had oversight of three important science and technology agencies: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Both President Bush and Bodman expressed gratitude toward departing Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham—the longest-serving Energy Secretary yet—who in turn welcomed Bodman. See the press releases from the White House and DOE, and see Bodman's biography on the Department of Commerce Web site.

There has also been a change to the senior staff at DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Douglas Kaempf is returning as program manager for the Biomass Program, and three people are taking on positions as acting program managers: David Rodgers for the Industrial Technologies Program, Patricia Hoffman for the Federal Energy Management Program, and Deborah Haught for the Distributed Energy Program. See the revised EERE organization chart (PDF 92 KB). Download Acrobat Reader.