View the plenary agenda and short biographies of the plenary speakers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Shot Summit, August 31–September 1, 2021.

Plenary Agendas

Opening Plenary Agenda, August 31, 2021

Closing Plenary Agenda, September 1, 2021

Plenary Speakers

Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

Jennifer M. Granholm was sworn in as the 16th Secretary of Energy on February 25, 2021, becoming just the second woman to lead DOE. Secretary Granholm will lead DOE in helping America achieve President Biden's goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 by advancing cutting-edge clean energy technologies, creating millions of good-paying union clean energy jobs, and building an equitable clean energy future. Secretary Granholm will also oversee DOE's core missions of promoting American leadership in scientific discovery, maintaining the nuclear deterrent and reducing nuclear danger, and remediating the environmental harms caused by legacy defense programs. Prior to her nomination as Secretary of Energy, Jennifer Granholm was the first woman elected Governor of Michigan, serving two terms from 2003 to 2011. Read more about Jennifer M. Granholm.

Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

Prior to his nomination as Deputy Secretary, Turk was the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), where he focused on helping countries around the world tackle their clean energy transitions. He also directed reports on the digitalization of energy systems, the future of clean hydrogen, and a project tracking progress on a wide range of clean energy technologies. During the Obama-Biden Administration, Turk coordinated international technology and clean energy efforts at DOE. During this time, he helped spearhead the launch of Mission Innovation—a global effort to enhance clean energy innovation. Turk also served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director at the U.S. National Security Council, where he coordinated interagency legislative affairs efforts by the full range of national security agencies and provided legislative advice to National Security Council decision-making. He also previously worked at the U.S. Department of State, including as Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change and helping to coordinate New Start Treaty ratification efforts in the U.S. Senate. Read more about David M. Turk.

Special Presidential Envoy for Climate

On January 20, 2021, John F. Kerry was sworn in as our nation's first Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and the first-ever Principal to sit on the National Security Council entirely dedicated to climate change. In recent years, Kerry was the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's first ever Visiting Distinguished Statesman, following his four years as the 68th United States Secretary of State. As America's top diplomat, he guided the Department's strategy on nuclear nonproliferation, combating radical extremism, and the threat of climate change. His tenure was marked by the successful negotiation of the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement. From 1985 to 2013, he served as a U.S. Senator representing Massachusetts, and was Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 2009 to 2013. Secretary Kerry served in the U.S. Navy, completing two combat tours of duty in Vietnam for which he received a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Combat V, and three Purple Hearts. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University and his law degree from Boston College Law School. Secretary Kerry was the Democratic Party's nominee for President of the United States in 2004. Read more about John Kerry.

U.S. Senator (D-W.Va.)

U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was sworn into the United States Senate on November 15, 2010 to fill the seat left vacant by the late Senator Robert C. Byrd. For Senator Manchin, serving as West Virginia's Senator is truly an honor and a privilege. As a Senator, Joe Manchin is committed to bringing this same spirit of bipartisanship to Washington. As he has done throughout his entire life, he remains committed to working with Republicans and Democrats to find commonsense solutions to the problems our country faces and is working hard to usher in a new bipartisan spirit in the Senate and Congress. Senator Manchin is strongly committed to developing a balanced national energy plan that utilizes all of our resources and recognizes that fossil fuels will be a vital part of our energy mix for decades to come. He believes that a balanced, commonsense approach that considers the needs of our environment and the demands of our economy, can and must be developed if we are to achieve energy independence within this generation. Senator Manchin currently serves as the Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and also serves on the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the Senate Committee on Armed Services, and the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs—four critical committees that tackle the important work of addressing our nation's energy needs, overseeing discretionary spending, standing up for our Veterans, and defending our nation. Read more about Senator Joe Manchin.

Founder, Breakthrough Energy

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Breakthrough Energy. In 1975, Bill Gates founded Microsoft with Paul Allen and led the company to become the worldwide leader in business and personal software and services. In 2008, Bill transitioned to focus full-time on his foundation's work to expand opportunity to the world’s most disadvantaged people. Along with co-chair Melinda Gates, he leads the foundation's development of strategies and sets the overall direction of the organization. At Breakthrough Energy, he's putting his experience as an innovator and problem-solver to work to address climate change by supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs, big thinkers, and clean technologies. Bill uses his experience partnering with global leaders across sectors to help drive the policy, market, and technological changes required for a clean energy transition. In 2010, Bill, Melinda, and Warren Buffett founded the Giving Pledge, an effort to encourage the wealthiest families and individuals to publicly commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charitable organizations during their lifetime or in their will.

Secretarial Advisor on Equity and Deputy Director for Energy Justice, Office of Economic Impact and Diversity, U.S. Department of Energy

Shalanda H. Baker serves as the Secretarial Advisor on Equity and as Deputy Director for Energy Justice in the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to her appointment, she was a Professor of Law, Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. She has spent over a decade conducting research on the equity dimensions of the global transition away from fossil fuel energy to cleaner energy resources. She is the author of over a dozen articles, book chapters, and essays on renewable energy law, energy justice, energy policy, and renewable energy development. In 2016, she received a Fulbright-Garcia-Robles research fellowship to study climate change, energy policy, and indigenous rights in Mexico. She is the co-founder and former co-director of the Initiative for Energy Justice, an organization committed to providing technical law and policy support to communities on the frontlines of climate change. Read more about Shalanda H. Baker.

Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Kelly Speakes-Backman is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and Acting Assistant Secretary at DOE. In her role, Speakes-Backman leads and directs EERE, focused on creating and sustaining American leadership in the transition to a global clean energy economy. She oversees the planning and execution of the organization's $2.8B portfolio of research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable transportation. Read more about Kelly Speakes-Backman.

Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy

Dr. Jennifer Wilcox, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Fossil Energy at DOE, was the Presidential Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. As a senior fellow at the World Resources Institute, she led WRI's Carbon Removal Program. Wilcox's research takes aim at the nexus of energy and the environment, developing both mitigation and adaptation strategies to minimize negative climate impacts associated with society's dependence on fossil fuels. Read more about Dr. Jennifer Wilcox.

Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy

Dr. Kathryn D. Huff serves as the Acting Assistant Secretary and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy. Prior to her current role, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she led the Advanced Reactors and Fuel Cycles Research Group. She was also a Blue Waters Assistant Professor with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Read more about Dr. Kathryn Huff.

Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director, Office of Science

Dr. J. Stephen (Steve) Binkley is the Principal Deputy Director in the Office of Science at DOE. In this capacity, Dr. Binkley is the senior career science official in the Office of Science, which is third largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the United States, the primary supporter of the physical sciences in the United States, and one of the premier science organizations in the world. As Principal Deputy Director, Dr. Binkley serves as the principal overall advisor to the Director on all aspects of the Office of Science. Read more about Dr. Stephen Binkley.

Jay Precourt Professor, Stanford University

Dr. Arun Majumdar is the Jay Precourt Provostial Chair Professor at Stanford University, a faculty member of the Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering (by courtesy), and Senior Fellow and former Director of the Precourt Institute for Energy. He is also a faculty in the Department of Photon Science at SLAC. In October 2009, Dr. Majumdar was nominated by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate to become the Founding Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E), where he served until June 2012 and helped ARPA-E become a model of excellence and innovation for the government with bipartisan support from Congress and other stakeholders. Between March 2011 and June 2012, he also served as the Acting Under Secretary of Energy, enabling the portfolio that reported to him: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Electricity Delivery and Reliability, Office of Nuclear Energy, and Office of Fossil Energy, as well as multiple cross-cutting efforts such as Sunshot, Grid Tech Team, and others that he had initiated. Furthermore, he was a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu, on a variety of matters related to management, personnel, budget, and policy. In 2010, he served on Secretary Chu's Science Team to help stop the leak of the Deep Water Horizon (BP) oil spill. Read more about Dr. Arun Majumdar.

Executive Director, Hydrogen Council

Daryl Wilson is a versatile leader with more than 35 years of progressive industrial management experience in environmental technology, operations, manufacturing, human resources, product development, and organizational change developed in world class organizations, including Dofasco, Toyota, and Zenon Environmental.

For the last 14 years, Daryl Wilson served as CEO of Hydrogenics, a leading provider of advanced hydrogen solutions. Read more about Daryl Wilson.

Director, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office

Dr. Sunita Satyapal is the Director for the DOE's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Program coordinator for the DOE Hydrogen Program. She is responsible for $150 million per year in hydrogen and fuel cell research, development, demonstration, and deployment activities. She has two and a half decades of experience across industry, academia, and government, including at United Technologies managing research and business development, and as a visiting professor. She has served as the Chair—and is currently the co-Chair—of the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells in the Economy, a partnership among over 20 countries to accelerate progress in hydrogen, and co-leads hydrogen efforts within the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation. She received her Ph.D. from Columbia University and did postdoctoral work in Applied and Engineering Physics at Cornell University. She has numerous publications, including in Scientific American, 10 patents, and a number of recognitions including a Presidential Rank Award.

Associate Director of Science for Basic Energy Sciences

Dr. Linda L. Horton is the Associate Director of Science for Basic Energy Sciences (BES) in the DOE Office of Science. With an annual budget of more than $2 billion, BES is the nation's leading supporter of fundamental research in materials sciences, chemistry, geosciences, and aspects of biosciences. BES is also a major supporter of scientific user facilities, including the nation's premier x-ray light sources, neutron scattering facilities, and nanoscale science research centers. These facilities serve over 16,000 users annually, and they provide the tools for the preparation and examination of materials and the study of their physical and chemical properties and transformations. Read more about Dr. Linda L. Horton.

Deputy Director for Advanced Fossil Technology Systems, Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy

John Litynski currently serves as the Deputy Director for Advanced Fossil Technology Systems in DOE's Office of Fossil Energy. He previously served as the Program Manager for Carbon Capture at DOE, the Technology Manager for Carbon Sequestration at the National Energy Technology Laboratory, and as a senior team lead on environmental compliance and assessment with the U.S Army. He has over 20 years of experience working on environmental compliance and technology development for the energy industry and Department of Defense. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and M.S. from Johns Hopkins University in Environmental Engineering and Science. Read more about John T. Litynski.

Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Air Products

Seifi Ghasemi became chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Air Products in July 2014. In this role, he is focused on setting the strategy and policies of the company, developing leadership, and meeting shareholder commitments. Mr. Ghasemi is a member of The Business Council, an association of the chief executive officers of the world's most important business enterprises. In 2020, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum. In 2019 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the U.S.-China Business Council. Mr. Ghasemi also was the recipient of the 2017 biennial International Palladium Medal from the Société de Chimie Industrielle for his distinguished contributions to the chemical industry. Read more about Seifi Ghasemi.

CEO, American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc.

Mike Graff joined Air Liquide in 2007 and currently serves as chairman, chief executive officer, and president of American Air Liquide Holdings, Inc.; executive vice president and executive committee member of Air Liquide Group; and chairman of the board of Airgas. Based in Houston, Graff leads the business operations for the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions of Air Liquide Group and is the global chairman of the Group's Electronics business line. Graff has over 35 years of global experience in the industrial gas, energy, refining, chemicals, and polymers industries. He began his career with Amoco and BP, plc. and went on to serve as president or chief executive officer of several global chemical and polymer businesses. Read more about Michael J. Graff.

President and CEO, Plug Power

Andy Marsh joined Plug Power as President and CEO in April 2008. Under his leadership, Plug Power has been a leading innovator in the alternative energy field, helping create an entirely new hydrogen fuel cell market in the material handling space as the world moves toward electrification in mobility applications. As President and CEO, Marsh plans and directs all aspects of the organization's goals and objectives and is focused on building a company that leverages Plug Power's combination of technological expertise, talented people, and focus on sales growth to continue the company's leadership stance in the future alternative energy economy. Under his leadership, Plug Power continues to spearhead hydrogen fuel cell innovations in both mobility and stationary applications, and his ability to generate revenue growth of more than 296 percent since 2012 has landed Plug Power on Deloitte's Technology Fast 500 list in both 2015 and 2016. Read more about Andy Marsh.

President, North America, Siemens Energy

Richard Voorberg is President for the North America Hub of Siemens Energy, based in Orlando, Florida. In this role, Richard has regional responsibility for the entire Energy business in the Americas, which includes the company's New Energy business focused on the green hydrogen market development and the market introduction of the Siemens Energy electrolyzer portfolio in the United States and Canada. Rich has over 28 years of experience with Siemens including extensive involvement in the manufacturing, commissioning management, project management, and marketing aspects of the power generation business. Richard was responsible for the design, project management and building of a brand-new factory at the Charlotte, North Carolina, site for gas turbine manufacturing. Richard holds a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Canada, and his MBA from ESMT in Berlin Germany.

Founder and Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Bloom Energy

Prior to founding Bloom Energy, Dr. KR Sridhar was Director of the Space Technologies Laboratory at the University of Arizona where he was also a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering. Under his leadership, the Space Technologies Laboratory won several nationally competitive contracts to conduct research and development for Mars exploration and flight experiments to Mars. KR has served as an advisor to NASA and has led major consortia of industry, academia, and national labs. His work for the NASA Mars program to convert Martian atmospheric gases to oxygen for propulsion and life support was recognized by Fortune Magazine, where he was cited as "one of the top five futurists inventing tomorrow, today." As one of the early pioneers in green tech, KR also serves as a strategic limited partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and as a special advisor to New Enterprise Associates. He has also served on many technical committees, panels, and advisory boards and has several publications and patents. Read more about KR Sridhar.

Vice President, Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Technologies, Cummins

Amy Adams is Vice President–Fuel Cell & Hydrogen Technologies at Cummins, a global power leader. She is at the forefront of advancing Cummins' vision to bring a diverse portfolio of power solutions to customers, working across the value chain to build and grow the company’s fuel cell and hydrogen production technologies portfolio globally. As part of this, Amy oversees the company's hydrogen investments and partnerships, including the recently acquired Hydrogenics business. Read more about Amy Adams.

Deputy Executive Officer of Environmental Justice, California Air Resources Board

Chanell Fletcher was appointed to the position of Deputy Executive Officer of Environmental Justice at the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in January 2021. Ms. Fletcher oversees CARB's Environmental Justice and Community Air Protection Program and is responsible for developing CARB-wide environmental justice policies. She plays a key role in CARB's programs designed to address disproportionate impacts from air pollution and climate change and associated chronic health conditions affecting Black, Latinx, and other communities of color across the state. Ms. Fletcher is the executive lead for AB 617 and its related programs. She is focused on moving away from a top-down equity model to one that centers on building relationships and trust with partners in the environmental and racial justice movement at the community level. Read more about Chanell Fletcher.

Executive Director, Wyoming Energy Authority

Dr. Glen Murrell has more than two decades of experience in energy-related R&D and technology/product development and is the inaugural Executive Director for the Wyoming Energy Authority. He holds a Doctorate in Geology and has contributed to more than 10 publications and several patents related to thermochronology, oil recovery, and technological innovations in oil and gas production. He has held leadership positions in industrial, academic, and public service settings. He has led and contributed to multiple projects related to waterflood enhancement, conventional and unconventional enhanced oil recovery, reservoir analytics, and digital rock physics. He has more than a decade of experience in carbon capture, utilization, and storage, with emphasis on CO₂ enhanced oil recovery and sequestration. His more recent technology interests include the energy transition, the hydrogen economy, and blockchain applications. Read more about Dr. Glenn Murrell.

Vice President, Renewable Fuels and Western Region, Mitsubishi Power

Michael Ducker is the Vice President of Renewable Fuels and Western Region at Mitsubishi Power, a power generation and energy storage solutions provider in the energy industry. Michael is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of Mitsubishi Power's recently launched renewable fuels business, which focuses on delivering carbon-free fuel solutions to the power industry and other verticals. Additionally, Michael is responsible for sales and business development for new power equipment within the western region of the United States. Prior to his current role, Michael was a founding member and contributor to Mitsubishi Power's NEXT division, which develops, launches, incubates, and turns over new businesses at the company. While also at Mitsubishi Power, Michael established and led its Market Analysis division and originally started at the company in its Applications and Performance Engineering team. Read more about Michael Ducker.

Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy, Hyundai Motor North America

Olabisi Boyle is the Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy for Hyundai Motor North America. Boyle is responsible for guiding the strategic direction of Hyundai's U.S. vehicle lineup, leading long- and short-range planning, and overseeing market research, business analytics, and pricing. She also leads Hyundai's U.S. mobility strategy, including IT business solutions, connected car technology, and future innovations. Boyle was named Vice President of Product Planning and Mobility Strategy in August 2020. Read more about Olabisi Boyle.

Director, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Dr. Martin Keller has been the Director of NREL and President of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy since 2015. Under his leadership, the number of NREL employees has grown by 46%. Keller is committed to people, teams, and partnerships and applies industry best practices to achieve game-changing scientific outcomes. He led development of NREL's strategy, which focuses on integrated energy pathways, circular economy, and electrons to molecules key initiatives that drive laboratory research, programs, and partnerships. For example, NREL has more than 900 partnerships with public and private sector organizations that generate over $1 billion in R&D for the laboratory. Before joining NREL, Martin led research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for nine years and served as Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environmental Sciences from 2009 to 2015. Keller earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Regensburg, Germany. Read more about Dr. Martin Keller.

Director, National Energy Technology Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy

As director of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Dr. Brian J. Anderson manages the complete NETL complex, including delivery and execution of the laboratory's mission and national programs in carbon-based energy and program support to the DOE Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; Electricity; and Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response. Anderson leads NETL's more than 1,300 employees and guides more than 1,000 R&D projects in 50 states with a total award value of $5 billion. Under Anderson's leadership, NETL initiated critical technology development and deployment projects including direct air capture technologies for decarbonization, chemical looping combustion with potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and non-variable renewable energy for future low-carbon power systems. Anderson also guided the development and maturation of key technologies proven to have significant industry impact including microwave ammonia synthesis and carbon nanomaterials manufactured from coal. In April 2021, the Biden Administration named Anderson executive director of the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization. Read more about Dr. Brian J. Anderson.

Director, Idaho National Laboratory

Dr. John C. Wagner is the director of Idaho National Laboratory and president of Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC. He is responsible for management and integration of a large, multipurpose laboratory whose mission focuses on nuclear energy, national and homeland security, and energy and environmental science and technology. He manages this DOE national laboratory of approximately 5,500 scientists, engineers, and support staff in multiple nuclear and non-nuclear experimental facilities, with an annual budget of over $1.6 billion. Wagner is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and recipient of the 2013 E.O. Lawrence Award. He has authored or co-authored more than 170 refereed journal and conference articles, technical reports, and conference summaries. He received a B.S. in nuclear engineering from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1992, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Read more about Dr. John C. Wagner.

Laboratory Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Dr. Michael Witherell has been the Laboratory Director at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory since 2016. He also served as Director of Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) from 1999 to 2005. Between those two appointments, he was Vice Chancellor for Research at UC Santa Barbara and held a University of California Presidential Chair in the Physics Department. Dr. Witherell, a high-energy physicist, was awarded the American Physical Society's W.K.H. Panofsky Prize in experimental particle physics for his research using silicon microstrip detectors to study charm physics at Fermilab. He was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1998 and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2017. He received the U.S. Secretary of Energy's Gold Award in 2004 for his service as Fermilab Director. Read more about Dr. Michael S. Witherell.

Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Dr. Thomas Zacharia, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), guides 5,700 staff members in solving scientific and technical challenges for DOE and other sponsors, managing an annual budget of more than $2 billion. He came to ORNL as a postdoctoral fellow, then joined the Laboratory's Metals and Ceramics Division in 1989. He rose through a series of research leadership positions that included creation of the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which expects to launch the first exascale system this fall, capable of a quintillion calculations per second. Thomas was named ORNL's Deputy for Science and Technology in 2009 and has served as lab director since 2017, responsible for a research portfolio that includes materials, nuclear science and engineering, neutron science, supercomputing, isotopes, biological and environmental science, as well as development of technology, its deployment to other agencies and private industry, and applications in support of national security.

Governor (D-NM)

Michelle Lujan Grisham is the thirty-second governor of the state of New Mexico, the first Democratic Latina to be elected governor in U.S. history. As governor, Lujan Grisham has implemented a series of evidence-based policies aimed at transforming New Mexico's public education system, expanding the state's economy to include more high-quality employment opportunities and preserving New Mexico's air, land, and water. A former congresswoman and state cabinet secretary for aging and health, she has as chief executive signed into law some of the nation's most aggressive and ambitious climate targets and overseen a dramatic increase in clean energy production, among other notable policy achievements.

Former U.S. Representative (R-PA)

For more than four decades, Congressman Bob Walker has been a political leader and an insightful public policy advocate. Legislatively he wrote law that created commercial space policy and hydrogen energy policy. Along with Newt Gingrich, he helped design and lead the Republican Revolution of 1994 which transformed America's political landscape. He rose to leadership in Congress as Chief Deputy Republican Whip, Chairman of the GOP House Leadership, Chairman of the Science, Space and Technology Committee, and Speaker Pro Tempore. He has served as an advisor to several Presidents, most recently as a Senior Space Advisor to President Trump's 2016 campaign. President George W. Bush appointed him to three presidential commissions including the chairmanship of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry in 2002. During the end of the Bush Administration and Obama Administration, he served as the Chairman of the Department of Energy's Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technical Advisory Committee. Presently he serves as a trusted advisor to the National Space Council, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, NASA, the White House, and the Air Force on space and technology policies.