Daniel Bruce Poneman (born March 12, 1956) is an American government official who was the United States Deputy Secretary of Energy from 2009 to 2014 and is currently a Distinguished Fellow at the

Paulson Institute The Paulson Institute is a non-partisan, independent “think and do tank” dedicated to fostering a US-China relationship that serves to maintain global order in a rapidly evolving world. Founded in 2011 by former Treasury Secretary Henry M. P ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

. Poneman was Acting

Secretary of Energy The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when Pr ...

in 2013 following the resignation of

Steven Chu Steven ChuErnest Moniz Ernest Jeffrey Moniz, GCIH (; born December 22, 1944) is an American nuclear physicist and former government official. From May 2013 to January 2017, he served as the 13th United States secretary of Energy in the Obama Administration. Prior to ...

was confirmed and sworn in.

Education

Poneman received A.B. and J.D. degrees with honors from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, and an M.Litt. in politics from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where he was a student at Lincoln College. He is a graduate of

Whitmer High School Whitmer High School is a public high school in Toledo, Ohio, named for John Wallace Whitmer, an educator who helped organize high school classes for the area. Whitmer History, accessed January 25, 2013. It is the only high school in the Washing ...

in Toledo, Ohio. During his undergraduate studies at Harvard, Poneman was a roommate of

Hugh Hewitt Hugh Hewitt (born February 22, 1956) is an American radio talk show host with the Salem Radio Network and an attorney, academic, and author. A conservative, he writes about law, society, politics, and media bias in the United States. Hewitt is ...

, who want on to become a nationally syndicated

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

radio host and commentator. Poneman has frequently been a guest on Hewitt's radio show, ''The Hugh Hewitt Show''.

Career

Daniel B. Poneman was nominated by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

to be United States Deputy Secretary of Energy on April 20, 2009, and was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

on May 18, 2009. He also served as Chief Operating Officer of the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

. Poneman served as Acting Secretary of Energy following the resignation of Secretary Chu on April 22, 2013 until his successor,

Ernest Moniz Ernest Jeffrey Moniz, GCIH (; born December 22, 1944) is an American nuclear physicist and former government official. From May 2013 to January 2017, he served as the 13th United States secretary of Energy in the Obama Administration. Prior to ...

was confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and was sworn in on May 21, 2013. Poneman was a principal of

The Scowcroft Group {{More citations needed, date=November 2018 The Scowcroft Group is an international business advisory firm managed by Brent Scowcroft, former National Security Advisor to U.S. President George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford. The company claims regiona ...

, a

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

firm in Washington, D.C., in the eight years prior to his appointment to the United States Department of Energy. Before his consulting role, Poneman was also a partner in the law firm of Hogan & Hartson.Daniel Poneman Biography on Energy.gov
/ref> Between 1993 and 1996, Poneman served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Nonproliferation and Export Controls at the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

. He joined the NSC staff in 1990 as the Director of Defense Policy and Arms Control after also serving as a White House Fellow in the United States Department of Energy. Poneman currently sits on th
Atlantic Council's
ref> Board of Directors and serves as President and Chief Executive Officer at Centrus Energy Corp.

Publications

Poneman has published widely on national security issues and is the author of ''Nuclear Power in the Developing World'' and ''Argentina: Democracy on Trial''. His third book, ''Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis'' (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. Poneman is a member of the

Council of Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York City ...

Honors

Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star (2020)

References

External links

Daniel B. Poneman, Deputy Secretary of Energy on Energy.gov
* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Poneman, Daniel 1956 births 21st-century American politicians Alumni of Lincoln College, Oxford Harvard Law School alumni Living people Obama administration cabinet members Politicians from Toledo, Ohio United States Deputy Secretaries of Energy United States Secretaries of Energy University of Chicago fellows Recipients of the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd class Harvard College alumni