Dr. Adam Cohen, Former Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. Adam Cohen served as the Deputy Under Secretary for Science and Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) from October 2015 through May 2017. In the role, he oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Under Secretary for Science and Energy (US/S&E). The office was created by Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz to closely integrate DOE’s basic science, applied research, technology development, and deployment efforts. As Deputy Under Secretary, he supports DOE’s offices of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy, Indian Energy Policy and Programs, Nuclear Energy, Science, and Technology Transitions. In total, these programs steward the majority of DOE’s National Laboratories (13 of 17).

Dr. Cohen has more than 30 years of experience in management of research and development, strategic planning and operations at Princeton (PPPL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and the Department of Energy. As Deputy Director for Operations at PPPL, he was responsible for both the engineering and operations function at PPPL, including design efforts, project management, human resources, financial activities, outreach, ES&H and applied research activities. He also served on the NJ DEP Oyster Creek Oversight Panel and on the Department of Energy’s Laboratory Operations Board. Previously, he served as senior advisor to the DOE Under Secretary for Science for nuclear energy programs, and at Argonne as Chief Operations Officer, as the head of environment, safety and health, as a nuclear facility manager, and as a researcher/principal investigator on nuclear fuels and materials. Earlier in his career, he spent four years in the U.S. Navy as a submarine officer, and he worked at Babcock & Wilcox manufacturing nuclear fuel for research reactors. 

Dr. Cohen earned his Bachelor’s in Engineering from Columbia University, his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago, and his Ph. D. in Materials Science from Northwestern University.