Areas of Expertise:

Ernest J. Moniz is the CEO of EJM Associates and the Energy Futures Initiative. He served as the thirteenth United States Secretary of Energy from 2013 to January 2017. As Secretary, he advanced energy technology innovation, nuclear security and strategic stability, cutting-edge capabilities for the American scientific research community, and environmental stewardship. He strengthened the Department of Energy (DOE) strategic partnership with its seventeen national laboratories and with the Department of Defense and the broader national security establishment. Specific accomplishments included producing analytically-based energy policy proposals that attracted bipartisan support, implementing legislation, leading an international initiative that placed energy science and technology innovation at the center of the global response to climate change, and negotiating the historic Iran nuclear agreement alongside the Secretary of State. He reorganized a number of DOE program elements, elevated sound project and risk management, and strengthened enterprise-wide management to improve mission outcomes.
Professor Moniz previously served as Under Secretary of Energy from 1997 until January 2001 with science, energy, and nuclear security responsibilities. Before that, he was the Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1995 to 1997, with responsibility for the physical, life, and social sciences. He was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology as well as the Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2013. He also served on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future that provided advice to the President and the ERNEST J. MONIZ President & CEO Secretary of Energy, particularly on nuclear waste management.
Professor Moniz was a member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty from 1973 until 2013 when he was appointed Secretary of Energy. Now, he is the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems emeritus at MIT, as well as the Special Advisor to the MIT President. He is co-chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization that has advanced innovative solutions for securing nuclear materials, building international cooperation for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation - preventing the spread of disease and reducing radiological threats.
He is the inaugural Distinguished Fellow of the Emerson Collective. At MIT, Moniz was the Founding Director of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI) and Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. MITEI grew to involve over a quarter of the faculty across the entire Institute, launched new educational programs for energy, and established novel models for industry-faculty engagement that simultaneously provided individualized company research portfolios with a commons approach that lifted the entire energy enterprise.
Professor Moniz is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Harvard Belfer Center. Moniz was also Head of the MIT Department of Physics during 1991-1995 and 1997 and Director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center from 1983-1991. His physics research centered the development of a theoretical framework for understanding intermediate energy electron and meson interactions with atomic nuclei. Since 2001, his primary research has focused on energy technology and policy, giving him a leadership role in MIT multidisciplinary technology and policy studies addressing pathways to a low-carbon world (Future of Nuclear Power, of Coal, of Natural Gas and of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle). These studies had significant impact on energy policy and programs nationwide.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree summa cum laude in physics from Boston College, a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University, and several honorary doctorates, with some from European universities. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the International Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council and received the 1998 Seymour Cray HPCC Industry Recognition Award for vision and leadership in advancing scientific simulation. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Medals of the Department of Defense and of the Navy. He also was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III (Cyprus), the Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry the Navigator (Portugal), and the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (Japan).
Professor Moniz serves on the Board of Directors of both publicly traded and private companies in the energy and security sectors. He also served on the Boards of several nonprofit energy industry organizations and, through EJM Associates, is a high-level advisor to several energy-related companies, investment firms, and policy makers.

Recent Posts by Ernest J. Moniz

• A Framework for The Green Real Deal

Recent Comments by Ernest J. Moniz

• "Further, to the discussion on social justice/equity, I do agree that we are moving to some form of carbon pricing. In fact, at the Vatican dialogue in"
  A Framework for The Green Real Deal
• "Mr. Dedrick, I agree with your point that we need to embrace the technologies that have already shown to lower carbon dioxide emissions. There isn’t e"
  A Framework for The Green Real Deal
• "Ms. Twitmyer, you are correct in observing that companies will spend significant sums promoting their interests – it was ever thus. But I believe clim"
  A Framework for The Green Real Deal
• "Prof. Berry, I must point out that as a nuclear physicist, I do not reject nuclear power – and indeed, the Energy Futures Initiative has iss"
  A Framework for The Green Real Deal
• "I’d like to thank OurEnergyPolicy.org for this opportunity to discuss the work of my nonprofit think tank, the Energy Futures Initiative, and discuss "
  A Framework for The Green Real Deal