Energy Secretary Steven Chu, a AAAS fellow, has announced he will resign his post pending the appointment of a new secretary. Chu has helped implement President Barack Obama's agenda to invest in clean energy, reduce the U.S,'s dependence on foreign oil, address the global climate crisis, and create new jobs. Chu is the co-recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physics (1997).
In his resignation letter posted on the Department of Energy's webiste, Chu praised the work of the agency and their accomplishments over the past four years. "Serving as Secretary of Energy during such a momentous and important time has been incredibly demanding but enormously rewarding. I've been continually impressed by the talent and commitment of the men and women of this Department," Chu stated in his letter.
Prior to his appointment, Chu was the Director of the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, where he led the lab in pursuit of alternative and renewable energy technologies. The holder of 10 patents, Chu has published 250+ scientific and technical papers. He remains active with his research group and has recently published work on general relativity, single molecule biology, biophysics and biomedicine, and on scientific challenges and opportunities in clean energy.
Chu would like to return to an academic life of teaching and research.