Martha Krebs is a

theoretical physicist Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...

who directed the Office of Science and Technology Policy for the

United States 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 Stat ...

from 1993 to 2000. She later went on to be the founding director for the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

California NanoSystems Institute The California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) is an integrated research center operating jointly at UCLA and UC Santa Barbara. Its missions are to foster interdisciplinary collaborations for discoveries in nanosystems and nanotechnology; train the ...

Early life and education

Martha Krebs was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Krebs graduated summa cum laude at the Catholic University of America in 1966 with a bachelor's degree in physics. In 1975 she completed her PhD in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

, specializing in statistical mechanics at the same university. Krebs is part of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the

Association for Women in Science The Association for Women in Science (AWIS) was founded in 1971 at the annual Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) meeting. The organization aims to combat job discrimination, lower pay, and professional isolation. The ...

. She is also a member of Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Career

Krebs served as a member on the House Committee on Science, from 1977 through 1983. She started as a professional staff member before later becoming the subcommittee staff director. She left the committee in 1983 to become an associate director of Planning and Development for the

at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. While working at the lab Krebs's role was to plan research, oversee science education and handle outreach. Krebs switched jobs in 1993, and worked for seven years in the

and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. She was the assistant secretary and the director of the

Office of Science The Office of Science is a component of the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The Office of Science is the lead federal agency supporting fundamental scientific research for energy and the Nation’s largest supporter of basic research in t ...

at 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 ...

, and was responsible for managing the $3.1 billion budget. One of her major accomplishments while working for the department was to oversee the completion of the main injector for the

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

Fermilab Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been opera ...

. Krebs stepped down in 2000 to work on research and development management, planning and budgeting for the

Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses The Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA) (formerly known as: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA)), New Delhi, is India's foremost think tank for advanced research in international relations, espec ...

. In 2001 she became the founding director for

. From 2005 to 2009 Krebs was the deputy director for research and development at the

California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission, formally the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, is the primary energy policy and planning agency for California. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission'core respon ...

. In 2013 she was appointed senior scientist at

Penn State College of Engineering The Penn State College of Engineering is the engineering school of the Pennsylvania State University, headquartered at the University Park campus in University Park, Pennsylvania. It was established in 1896, under the leadership of George W ...

and director of the energy efficient buildings hub at the

Philadelphia Naval Shipyard The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard was an important naval shipyard of the United States for almost two centuries. Philadelphia's original navy yard, begun in 1776 on Front Street and Federal Street in what is now the Pennsport section of the ci ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krebs, Martha Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Atlantic City, New Jersey Theoretical physicists Catholic University of America alumni 20th-century United States government officials 20th-century American physicists 21st-century American scientists Fellows of the American Physical Society

Early life and education

Career

See also

References