Ernest Moniz

Ernest Jeffrey Moniz, GCIH (Portuguese: [muˈniʃ]; born December 22, 1944) is an American nuclear physicist and former government official. From May 2013 to January 2017, he served as the 13th United States secretary of energy in the Obama administration. Prior to this, Moniz served as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President of the United States from 1995 to 1997 and undersecretary of energy from 1997 to 2001 during the Clinton administration. He is currently the co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), as well as president and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative (EFI), a nonprofit organization funded by the natural gas industry that works on climate and energy technology issues, which he co-founded in 2017.

He is one of the founding members of The Cyprus Institute, has served at MIT as the Cecil and Ida Green professor of physics and engineering systems, director of the Energy Initiative and director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. Before his appointment as secretary of energy, he served in a variety of advisory capacities, including at BP, General Electric and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Moniz was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, the grandson of immigrants from São Miguel Island, Azores. He graduated from Durfee High School in Fall River in 1962, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and was the president of the school's math club. After graduating from high school, Moniz attended Boston College, where he received his Bachelor of Science summa cum laude in physics. In 1972, he received his Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees in theoretical physics from Stanford University.

After graduating from Stanford, Moniz joined the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1973, serving as head of the department of physics from 1991 to 1995 and as director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center. He co-chairs the MIT research council. He served in the Clinton administration as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President from 1995 to 1997.

Moniz worked in the United States Department of Energy, serving as undersecretary of energy from 1997 to 2001. Moniz was one of the founding members of The Cyprus Institute in 2005, where he and other scholars undertook the coordination, research and planning of the project. In 2013, he received the honorary degree Doctor Honoris Causa from the Universidad Pontificia Comillas de Madrid in recognition of his research on energy policies and technologies.

He oversaw the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative Report in 2011, which promoted natural gas as a clean energy source, and led to its promotion in the Obama administration and the fracking boom. The report conflicted with earlier research that showed that leaks from natural gas were more harmful to the climate. The study was funded by a non-profit created by the natural gas industry.

On May 16, 2013, his appointment was confirmed on a 97–0 vote by the Senate. He succeeded Steven Chu as secretary of energy. Moniz was sworn in as energy secretary on May 21, 2013 by deputy energy secretary Daniel Poneman.

Moniz played a crucial role in negotiations toward a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, directly negotiating technical details with the Iranian atomic energy minister Ali Akbar Salehi, an MIT graduate, and reassuring President Obama that concessions important to the Iranians would not pose a major threat. The comprehensive agreement between Iran and the so-called "P5+1" (which includes the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council, plus Germany and a representative from the European Union) was finalized on July 14, 2015, to much fanfare and criticism.