Steven Chu
Steven Chu (born February 28, 1948)[3] is an American physicist. He was the 12th United States Secretary of Energy from 2009 to 2013. Chu is known for his research at Bell Labs in cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997, along with his scientific colleagues Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and William Daniel Phillips.[3]
Steven Chu | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2009 | |
| 12th United States Secretary of Energy | |
| In office January 21, 2009 – April 22, 2013 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Deputy | Daniel Poneman |
| Preceded by | Samuel Bodman |
| Succeeded by | Ernest Moniz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 28, 1948 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic[1][2] |
| Spouse(s) | Lisa Chu-Thielbar (divorced) Jean Fetter (m. 1997) |
| Children | 2 |
| Father | Ju-Chin Chu |
| Relatives |
|
| Education | University of Rochester (BA, BS) University of California, Berkeley (MS, PhD) |
| Occupation | Politician, writer |
| Profession | Physicist |
| Awards |
|
| Website | University website |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Atomic physics, biological physics, polymer physics |
| Institutions | |
| Thesis | Observation of the Forbidden Magnetic Dipole Transition 62P1/2→72P1/2 in Atomic Thallium (1976) |
| Doctoral advisor | Eugene D. Commins |
| Doctoral students | Michale Fee |
| Chinese name | |
| Chinese | 朱棣文 |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Zhū Dìwén |
Chu is the first Nobel Prize winner and the second Chinese American to hold a post in the United States Cabinet.[4][5] Before becoming the United States Secretary of Energy, he was a professor of physics and molecular and cellular biology at the University of California, Berkeley. He was also the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.[6]
Before teaching at Berkeley, he was a professor of physics at Stanford University. He has argued for more research into alternative energy and nuclear power. He thinks the world should shift away from fossil fuels to help with climate change.[7][8][9] For example, he discusses a global "glucose economy". This is a form of a low-carbon economy, in which glucose from tropical plants is shipped around like oil is today.[10]
Early life
changeChu[11] was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He has ancestry from Taicang, Jiangsu.[12] He attended and graduated from Garden City High School.[13] He received both a B.A. in mathematics and a B.S. in physics in 1970 from the University of Rochester. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1976.
Career
changeHe wrote a paper on gravitational redshift published in Nature (463, 926–929) in Feb 2010[14] and a second one co-authored in July 2010.[15][16]
Under his leadership in 2010 the Department of Energy updated the water usage regulations on toilets and showers.[17]
Secretary of Energy
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His nomination to be Secretary of Energy was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on January 20, 2009.[18] On January 21, 2009, Chu was sworn in as Secretary of Energy in the Barack Obama administration.
In March 2011 Chu said that federal regulators should not delay approving licenses for construction for planned U.S. nuclear power plants because of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. "I think those things can proceed", Chu told reporters on Capital Hill, referring to construction license applications pending at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.[19]
In August 2011, Chu praised an advisory panel’s report on curbing the environmental risks of natural-gas development. Chu responded to the panel’s report on hydraulic fracturing. Hydraulic fracturing breaks up rock to get more oil and gas out of the ground. The report recommendations include: greater data collection of air and water data, “rigorous” air pollution standards and mandatory disclosure of chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process. “The report ... recommends a range of tools for implementing these measures, including regulation, continuous improvement in best practices by industry, and ongoing research and development,” Chu said in a statement. “I will be working closely with my colleagues in the Administration to review the recommendations and to chart a path for continued development of this vital energy resource in a safe manner,” he added.[20]
Republicans in Congress have accused Chu for changing a US$535 million federal loan to Solyndra, an energy company. When the company went bankrupt in 2011, the government lost the money. A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee asked Chu in 2011 about the loan.[21][22][23]
On February 12, 2013, Chu was the designated survivor during the State of the Union address.[24]
On February 1, 2013, Chu announced his plans to resign.[25] In his resignation announcement, he warned of the risks of climate change.[26] He resigned on April 22, 2013.
References
change- ↑ Steven Chu's file. PolitiFact. Retrieved on 2012-02-04.
- ↑ "Fundraising activities are limited, but star power brings in the bucks". Archived from the original on 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Tore Frängsmyr, ed. (1998). "Steven Chu Autobiography". The Nobel Prizes 1997. Les Prix Nobel. Stockholm: The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ↑ Jake Tapper (2008-12-11). "A Nobel Prize Winner in the Cabinet". ABC News. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ↑ Sky Canaves (2009-02-26). "Commerce Nominee a Locke In China". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2009-03-23.
- ↑ "Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy". United States Department of Energy. Retrieved 2009-02-24.
- ↑ H. Josef Hebert (2008-12-08). "Energy secretary pick argues for new fuel sources". Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-11-09.
- ↑ Sarah Jane Tribble, 'Nuclear: Dark horse energy alternative,' Oakland Tribune, 2007-06-18. [1] Archived 2013-08-29 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Directors of DOE National Laboratories (August 2008). "A Sustainable Energy Future: The Essential Role of Nuclear Energy" (PDF). Department of Energy. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-12-30. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- ↑ "A scientist who is on tap, on top". St. Petersberg Times. July 26, 2009. Archived from the original on January 24, 2010. Retrieved January 10, 2010.
- ↑ Bert Eljera (1997-10-23). "Stanford Professor Steven Chu graduates to the rank of Nobel laureate". AsianWeek. Archived from the original on 2008-12-15. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ↑ Brendan John Worrell (2009-07-15). "Steven Chu: US ready to lead on climate change". ChinaDaily. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ↑ Kathleen Kerr (2008-07-16). "They Began Here". Newsday. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
- ↑ A precision measurement of the gravitational redshift by the interference of matter waves Nature 18-Feb-2010. According to Nature he worked on this "during nights, weekends and on planes - after putting in 70-80 hours a week as energy secretary" (Nature 463 p867)
- ↑ Borestein, Seth (2010-07-07). "Energy secretary's hobby is nano science". MSNBC. Associated Press. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
- ↑ Pertsinidis, Alexandros; Zhang, Yunxiang; Chu, Steven (2010). "Subnanometre single-molecule localization, registration and distance measurements". Nature. advance. online publication (7306): 647–51. Bibcode:2010Natur.466..647P. doi:10.1038/nature09163. ISSN 1476-4687. PMID 20613725. S2CID 205221226.
- ↑ "Time for a Shower (Before It's Too Late) - The Weekly Standard". Archived from the original on 2012-01-05. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- ↑ Nicholas Johnston (2009-01-20). "Senate Confirms Seven Obama Nominees, Delays Clinton". Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2009-01-25.
- ↑ "Japan crisis should not delay new U.S. reactors: Chu". Reuters. 2011-03-15. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2017-08-31.
- ↑ "Chu vows to 'chart a path' for safe gas drilling". Archived from the original on 2012-07-24. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- ↑ http://articles.sfgate.com/2011-11-20/opinion/30423943_1_ceo-brian-harrison-solyndra-loan-steven-chu[permanent dead link]
- ↑ Wald, Matthew L. (16 November 2011). "Energy Secretary Steven Chu to Defend Solyndra Loan to Congress". The New York Times.
- ↑ Samuelsohn, Darren. "GOP grills Chu on Solyndra". POLITICO.
- ↑ Weiner, Rachel (12 February 2013). "Steven Chu is the State of the Union 'designated survivor'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-07-04.
- ↑ "Energy Secretary Steven Chu to resign". Politico. Retrieved 1 February 2013.
- ↑ "Letter from Secretary Steven Chu to Energy Department Employees". energy.gov. Retrieved 17 November 2013.
Other websites
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- Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at United States Department of Energy
- The Nobel Prize in Physics 1997 from Nobel Prize with biography, lecture, diploma, photos, symposia and links
- Bio Archived 2009-01-16 at the Wayback Machine from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
- Energy@Berkeley: Solutions for Global Warming[permanent dead link], University of California, Berkeley, November 13, 2007 includes link to event on YouTube
- BP Makes Berkeley World Center for Biofuels Archived 2016-12-30 at the Wayback Machine press release on the BP collaboration February 16, 2007
- Alternative Energy Sources Archived 2019-06-01 at the Wayback Machine March 28, 2005, Chu's PowerPoint presentation
- Boulder’s physicists give Chu thumbs-up Article on other Nobel laureates' reactions to Chu as secretary of energy
- Biography and Bibliographic Resources, from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, United States Department of Energy
- UCTV Programs with Steven Chu Archived 2013-01-14 at Archive.today
- Physics Meets Biology Archived 2013-01-13 at Archive.today
- Berkeley's Nobel Tradition Archived 2013-01-13 at Archive.today
- Holding on to Atoms and Molecules with Lasers: Laser Cooling - From Atomic Clocks to Watching Biomolecules Move Archived 2013-01-14 at Archive.today
- What Can Physics Say About Life? Archived 2013-01-13 at Archive.today
- Conversations with History: A Scientist's Random Walk, with Steven Chu Archived 2009-01-04 at the Wayback Machine
- Bio Archived 2007-06-03 at the Wayback Machine and personal page Archived 2008-10-10 at the Wayback Machine from Stanford University Department of Physics
- Steven Chu: Uncovering the secret life of molecules Archived 2009-02-26 at the Wayback Machine from Stanford [Online] Report (July 16, 1997)
- Chu's biophysics research group Archived 2007-10-25 at the Wayback Machine at University of California, Berkeley
- Growing energy: Berkeley Lab's Steve Chu on what termite guts have to do with global warming from UC Berkeley News (September 30, 2005)
- Chu's lecture on the Helios Project for renewable energy on YouTube March 12, 2008
- "Climate Disasters a 'Significant Possibility' Archived 2010-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Interview with Steve Chu at Copenhagen Climate Council, November 3, 2008.
- Interview with Steven Chu from "Growing Energy" from the PBS series e² energy
- Interview, April 19, 2009
- Works by or about Steven Chu in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Samuel Bodman |
United States Secretary of Energy 2009–2013 |
Succeeded by Daniel Poneman Acting |