It became official today (at least, all the news agencies seem to be treating it this way): Dr. Stephen Chu, director or Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), is President-elect Obama’s pick for the Secretary of Energy [1]. Chu shared the 1997 Nobel prize in physics for experiments in cooling and trapping atoms, a practice which has continued to be a part of curiosity driven science and applied science. This is an interesting pick, and an interesting opportunity for physics to be a visible part of the public face of science and energy policy.
I have no illusions about what Dr. Chu will have to deal with as Secretary. Energy policy will be at the top of his list, but I do believe that the nation’s science investment will be important as well. Just because a person with his background is in such a position is no guarantee of success for funding of curiosity-driven research (CDR). However, a person like Dr. Chu brings an understanding to the position that even Secretary Bodman, who is widely seen amongst recent Energy Secretaries as better for science, did not have. I hope that this puts CDR firmly in the big picture.
I wonder, as many other do, how Dr. Chu will fare in so visible a public service role. Secretary positions are steeped in politics. Can a Nobel-prize winning physicist, even with lab directorial experience, make a competant Energy Secretary? We’ll see!
[1] http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/chu_profile;_ylt=AvcoXmH5T2b8xmfoegOrrVwPLBIF
