Charles B. Curtis (born April 27, 1940) is an American lawyer, currently senior advisor (nonresident) to the

Center for Strategic and International Studies The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...

, vice chair of the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

's International Security Advisory Board, 2011 through 2017, former member of the National Academies Intelligence Science and Technology Experts Group, and President Emeritus of the

Nuclear Threat Initiative The Nuclear Threat Initiative, generally referred to as NTI, is a non-profit organization located in Washington, D.C. The American foreign policy think tank was founded in 2001 by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and describes itself as a "nonprofit ...

(NTI), a non-profit organization working to reduce the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. In addition to working in private practice for more than sixteen years, Curtis served as the last chairman of the

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in 1 ...

and the first chairman of the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is the United States federal agency that regulates the transmission and wholesale sale of electricity and natural gas in interstate commerce and regulates the transportation of oil by pipeline in ...

from 1977 to 1981. In 1994 he was appointed and confirmed as undersecretary and then deputy secretary of the US Department of Energy. He has held positions on the staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Treasury Department, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Background

Curtis was born in

Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania Upper Darby Township, often shortened to Upper Darby, is a home rule township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The township borders Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city as of 2020 with 1.6 million residents. As of the 2020 cen ...

. He graduated from the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

in 1962 and from

Boston University School of Law Boston University School of Law (Boston Law or BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top law schools in the United States and considered an eli ...

in 1965. At the latter, he served as editor of the Boston University Law School Law Review. He is a recipient of multiple scholarships including Rome Scholarship, American Legion, and VFW Scholarships. He was also a member of the sophomore and senior Men's Honorary Societies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is married and has one adult son.

Career

From June 1965 to May 1967 he was supervising staff attorney at the

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is an independent bureau within the United States Department of the Treasury that was established by the National Currency Act of 1863 and serves to charter, regulate, and supervise all nation ...

, U.S. Department of the Treasury. From May 1967 to June 1971 he was special counsel to the Division of Trading and Markets; and Chief of the Branch of Regulation and Inspection of the

Securities and Exchange Commission The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government, created in the aftermath of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market ...

. From 1971 to 1976 he was a professional staff member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, where he served as lead energy, securities and consumer counsel. Curtis was a founding partner of the Washington law firm Van Ness, Curtis, Feldman & Sutcliffe, P.C., in 1977 and is a former partner of the international law firm of Hogan & Hartson, 1997 to 2000.

Department of Energy

Curtis served as the last Chairman of the

and the first Chairman of the

from 1977 to January 1981. During 1997 Curtis served as Acting Secretary of Energy, having previously served as Under Secretary (From February 1994 to February 1997) and as Deputy Secretary (August 1995 to May 1997) of the

U.S. Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United States. ...

. He was chief operating Officer of the department and, among other duties, had direct programmatic responsibility for all of the department's energy, science, technology and national security programs. Curtis was instrumental in developing the US/Russian Lab to Lab initiative and in improving U.S.-Russian relations during his tenure at the Department of Energy. He led the development of two key programs that led to major U.S. government efforts working with the Russians to secure their nuclear material, and working with the Russians to secure and repatriate Soviet-origin highly enriched uranium, the easiest material to make a terrorist nuclear device with, scattered around the world in former Soviet republics and client states.

United Nations Foundation

From January 2000 to January 2001, Curtis served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the

United Nations Foundation The United Nations Foundation is a charitable organization headquartered in Washington, DC, that supports the United Nations and its activities. It was established in 1998 with a $1 billion gift to the United Nations by philanthropist Ted Turner, ...

Nuclear Threat Initiative

From January 2001 to January 2010, Curtis served as the president and chief operating officer of the

, a non-profit organization working to reduce the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. He is currently the Nuclear Threat Initiative's president emeritus and an emeritus board member. The Nuclear Threat Initiative was founded in 2001 and resulted from Curtis teaming with former Senator Sam Nunn and CNN founder

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, cable news ch ...

to form a charitable organization focused on issues that were previously the sole domain of governments.

Memberships

Curtis has served on a number of boards, including a number of a corporate boards of directors, the Defense Policy Board of the Department of Defense and the Homeland Security Advisory Council. He is a former member of the Boards of Edison International and Southern California Edison. He served as vice chair of the Defense Department's Threat Reduction Advisory Board and vice chair of the State Department's International Security Advisory Board. Curtis is a former trustee of the Putnam family of Mutual Funds and is currently a member of the Council of Foreign Relations.

Awards

Curtis is a recipient of the Energy Bar Association Lifetime Achievement award, as well as the Chairman's Award from the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a three-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy. He also received ''Energy Daily's'
Public Policy Leadership Award
for achievements in senior energy and national security policy posts in government and the private sector, and the 2016 Schlsinger Medal for Energy Security. He is a 2018 Public Service Award recipient of the Boston University School of Law.

References

External links

*
Biography at the Center for Strategic & International Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Charles B. 1940 births Living people United States Deputy Secretaries of Energy American civil servants University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Boston University School of Law alumni People from Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania American chief operating officers Lawyers from Washington, D.C. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairpersons Carter administration personnel Reagan administration personnel