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Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Bindu Nair will be joining the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science (SC) as the Associate Director (AD) for Basic Energy Sciences (BES); her official start date will be October 20, 2024. We are also announcing that Dr. Andrew (Andy) Schwartz, who has been serving superbly as the Acting AD for BES since April of this year, will now be the Deputy Associate Director for Basic Energy Sciences. Dr. Schwartz’s new appointment will take effect on the same day.
Dr. Nair is coming to DOE from the Department of Defense (DOD), Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, where she has most recently served as the Director for Basic Research. In this role, Dr. Nair was responsible for executing a $3.75 billion portfolio in fundamental research spanning physics, material sciences, chemistry, biology, engineering, computer science, mathematics, environmental science, aerospace science, and more. She led a team of 30 individuals who were responsible for the oversight and management of DOD Basic Research, including budget formulation and execution, inter- and intra-agency coordination, and science policy development.
Dr. Nair has grown DOD’s Basic Research program. Under her leadership, Dr. Nair also invested in new fields of science through the $400 million Multi University Research Initiative (MURI) program, such as lattice control and quantum materials, biotic/abiotic interfaces, and templated microstructure growth. She expanded the Department’s single investigator program, the Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship (VBFF), and developed a new international partnership program to continue to grow the reach of DOD basic research.
Among her other accomplishments, she worked with the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy and the National Security Council to create the National Security Presidential Memorandum-33, to counter malign foreign influence in open research, and instituted that effort within DOD. Dr. Nair earned a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering with a minor in English from the University of Florida.
In his new role as Deputy Associate Director, Dr. Schwartz will partner with Dr. Nair in the leadership of BES. Dr. Schwartz has served as the Director of the BES Material Sciences and Engineering Division since 2022. In this role, Dr. Schwartz provided leadership and direction in establishing vision, strategic plans, goals, and objectives for supported research activities, including planning, developing, and implementing vital, productive, forefront research programs conducted in DOE laboratories, universities, and other public and private institutions. Earlier, he served as Senior Technical Advisor for Energy Frontier Research Centers and Program Manager for the BES Experimental Condensed Matter Physics program. Prior to joining BES, Dr. Schwartz spent seven years in industry leading a multi-disciplinary scientific and engineering team in the research and development of a new technology for semiconductor metrology. He earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of California, Los Angeles and a B.A. from Amherst College.
We want to thank Dr. Schwartz for serving as acting AD for these last several months, while also serving as the Division Director for Materials Sciences and Engineering and the acting Division Director for Scientific User Facilities. In Dr. Schwartz’s new role as BES Deputy Associate Director, he will continue to serve as the Director for these two divisions until the positions are filled.
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Bindu Nair and Dr. Andrew Schwartz into their new roles in BES. We look forward to the many future accomplishments under their leadership.
Harriet Kung
Acting Director and Deputy Director for Science Programs, Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
Juston Fontaine
Deputy Director for Operations, Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
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