Arun Majumdar reflects on his contribution to the scientific and energy policy of the Obama administration, in which he served as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) from 2009 to 2012, as acting undersecretary of energy from 2011 to 2012, and as a member of the team of scientists and engineers assembled to stop the leak of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Maj umdar focuses on his development of ARPA-E's organizational structure and culture, and he provides details about the processes by which it selected projects for support, managed research projects, defined goals and metrics for evaluating program success, and involved the Department of Energy's career civil servants throughout the new agency's activities. He also describes the importance of maintaining positive relationships with members of Congress, and outlines major research areas and projects, including the SunShot Initiative, efforts to improve energy efficiency, and issues related to improvements to U.S. electrical grids and the storage of critical materials. Also discussed are the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the significance of funding for ARPA-E in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, local resistance to the installation of renewable energy production and transmission infrastructure, and the increase of attention to structural and systemic inequalities in access to energy and exposure to environmental risks
Presidents--United States; Energy policy--United States; BP Deepwater Horizon Explosion and Oil Spill, 2010; Smart power grids--United States; Renewable energy sources--United States; Majumdar, Arunava; Obama, Barack; United States; United States. Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy; United States. Department of Energy; American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
52 pages
Note (Biographical)
Arun Majumdar is a scientist, engineer, and professor who held multiple roles in the Obama administration. He served as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) from 2009 to 2012; as undersecretary of the Department of Energy from 2011 to 2012; and as a United States science envoy to Poland and the Balkan region in 2014. Prior to his service in government, Majumdar was the Almy and Agnes Maynard professor of mechanical engineering and materials science and engineering at the University of California-Berkeley, and the associate laboratory director for energy and environment at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. At the time of the interview, Majumdar was the inaugural dean of the Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability
Note
Interviewed by Peter Bearman on March 8, 2021. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Arun Majumdar, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023