Scientist and Statesman Ernest Moniz Joins Belfer Center as Senior Fellow

Cambridge, MA – Former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz is joining Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs as a senior fellow. Moniz, a longtime MIT professor, nuclear physicist, and diplomat who played a critical role in the negotiations over the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and in driving a clean energy innovation agenda, will lead MIT/Harvard projects to chart a pro-growth, pro-climate 21st century American energy policy and to produce a manuscript that chronicles his experience and lessons learned in negotiating nuclear risk reduction.

“In 1973, biochemist Paul Doty established the Center and its mission to advance policy-relevant knowledge about the most important challenges at the nexus of science, technology, and international security,” said Belfer Center Director Graham Allison. “Few people in history better exemplify the skillful convergence of science and diplomacy for a more secure, peaceful world than Ernie Moniz. We are honored to have this Renaissance man and universally admired Cabinet secretary in our midst. His appointment would make Paul proud.”

“I am delighted to join the Belfer Center,” said Moniz. “The Center’s exceptional community of policy experts and practitioners is fertile ground for developing and honing ideas that will strengthen America’s environment and nuclear security. Working together with the best from Harvard and MIT, I look forward to getting started.”

Moniz served as Secretary of Energy from 2103 to January 2017, advancing energy technology innovation, nuclear security and strategic stability, cutting-edge capabilities for the scientific research community, and environmental stewardship. Under his leadership, the Department produced analytically-based energy policy proposals that attracted bipartisan support and statutory implementation and guided the international initiative that placed energy science and technology innovation at the center of the global response to climate change.

Previously, Moniz was Energy Under Secretary from 1997 until 2001 and Associate Director for Science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1995 to 1997. He was a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and of the Defense Threat Reduction Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2013.

Moniz served on the MIT faculty from 1973 until 2013. He held the Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics and Engineering Systems Chair, was the Founding Director of the MIT Energy Initiative, and was Director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment. His physics research centered on developing the theoretical framework for understanding intermediate energy electron and meson interactions with atomic nuclei. Since 2001, his primary research focus has been energy technology and policy.

After graduating summa cum laude in physics from Boston College, Moniz earned a doctorate in theoretical physics from Stanford University. He received the 1998 Seymour Cray HPCC Industry Recognition Award for vision and leadership in advancing scientific simulation. Among other awards, he is the recipient of the Distinguished Public Service Medals of the Department of Defense and of the Navy. Moniz received the Charles Percy Award of the Alliance to Save Energy and the Right Stuff Award of the Blue-Green Alliance Foundation. Holder of eight honorary doctorates, he is a Fellow of the American Physics Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Humboldt Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Moniz lives in Brookline, Massachusetts with his wife of more than four decades, Naomi, their daughter Katya, and grandchildren Alex and Eve. He is a modestly accomplished but very enthusiastic practitioner of fly-fishing, a well-known passion of many Kennedy School faculty.

Contact: Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs: Sharon_Wilke@hks.harvard.edu | 617-495-9858