Chinese American physicist named as next U.S. Energy Secretary

Source: Xinhua | 12-16-2008 07:55

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Steven Chu, a prominent Chinese American physicist, was named by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama as the next Energy Secretary on Monday.

President-elect Barack Obama listens as Energy Secretary nominee Steven Chu addresses the media at a news conference in Chicago, Monday, Dec. 15, 2008.(AP Photo)

Obama announced the nomination of the Nobel-Prize winner at a press conference in his transition office headquarters in Chicago, Illinois, as he presented his energy and environment team members to the nation.

"They are leading experts and accomplished managers," Obama said of his team. "They are ready to reform government and help transform our economy so that our people are more prosperous, our nation is more secure, and our planet is protected."

Chu, currently head of the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California, was described by Obama as the one "who has been working at the cutting edge of our nation's efforts to develop new and cleaner forms of energy."

"Steven is uniquely suited to be our next secretary of energy as we make this pursuit a guiding purpose of the Department of Energy, as well as a national mission," he said of the energy secretary choice.

Obama also noted Chu's appointment sent a signal to all that the U.S. government would value science and make decision based on the facts.

Chu, born on Feb. 28, 1948, to a Chinese American family in Missouri, won his Nobel in 1997 with two other scientists for developing methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.