Michael Kratsios Appointed to Key Defense Research Position

Posted on July 13, 2020

US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has named Michael Kratsios to be Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. Until now, Kratsios has been serving as the White House Chief Technology Officer, and will replace former-NASA Administrator Michael Griffin in his new role.

Prior to starting at the White House, Kratsios held several positions in the financial sector of increasing scope and responsibility. He has a BA from Princeton and was a visiting scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

NSF Director Confirmed by Senate

Posted on June 18, 2020

Today, the US Senate unanimously confirmed Sethuraman Panchanathan to be Director of the National Science Foundation.

New Energy Secretary Confirmed

Posted on December 3, 2019

The Senate confirmed yesterday Dan Brouillette as the new Energy Secretary. Brouillette takes over from Rick Perry, whose resignation became effective Sunday evening. Before being confirmed for his new role, he served under Perry as the Deputy Secretary of Energy.

Read more about the new secretary here and here.

Patrick Shanahan To Be Nominated as Defense Secretary

Posted on May 10, 2019May 10, 2019

The White House announced yesterday that the President intends to nominate Patrick Shanahan as the next Secretary of Defense. Shanahan, the former Boeing executive and University of Washington regent, has been serving as the acting secretary since the beginning of the year after the resignation of Jim Mattis. While he is expected to face a number of tough questions on several high-profile issues, he is expected to be confirmed by the Senate.

Read more about the nomination here, here, and here.

OSTP Director Confirmed

Posted on January 3, 2019

As a part of a larger package of nominations, the Senate confirmed last night Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier as the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). OSTP is the office that is responsible for coordinating science and technology policy government-wide.

The nomination of Droegemeier, who is well-known in the science and research policy arena, was enthusiastically supported by the broader research community.