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Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
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B
Committee Biographies

Maxine L. Savitz (NAE), Chair, is retired general manager of Technology Partnerships, Honeywell, Inc. She has managed large R&D programs in the federal government and in the private sector. Some of the positions that she has held include the following: chief, Buildings Conservation Policy Research, Federal Energy Administration; professional manager, Research Applied to National Needs, National Science Foundation; division director, Buildings and Industrial Conservation, Energy Research and Development Administration; deputy assistant secretary for conservation, U.S. Department of Energy; president, Lighting Research Institute, and general manager, Ceramic Components, AlliedSignal Inc. (now Honeywell). Dr. Savitz has extensive technical experience in the areas of materials, fuel cells, batteries and other storage devices, energy efficiency, and R&D management. She is a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She has been, or is serving as, a member of numerous public- and private-sector boards and has served on many energy-related and other NRC committees. She has a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


Linda R. Cohen is professor of economics, Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine, and professor of social science and law, The Law School, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. She was previously chair, Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine, where she has taught in various capacities with increasing responsibility since 1987. Previously, Dr. Cohen was an economist associate at the Rand Corporation, a research associate for economics with the Brookings Institution, a senior economist with the California Institute of Technology’s Environmental Quality Laboratory, and an assistant professor of public policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She was the Olin Visiting Professor in Law and Economics at the University of Southern California Law School in 1993 and 1998, a fellow of the California Council for Science and Technology in 1998, and a research fellow at the Brookings Institution in 1977. Dr. Cohen has written many articles and coauthored a book on federal research and technology policy. She is currently a member of the editorial board of Public Choice and a member of the California Energy Commission’s Advisory Panel for the Public Interest Energy Research Program. She has served on a variety of panels and committees and was a member of the NRC Committee on Benefits of DOE’s R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy. She has an A.B. degree in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley and received her Ph.D. in social sciences from the California Institute of Technology.


James Corman is an independent consultant and founder of Energy Alternatives Systems, an engineering consulting company. He retired as general manager of the Advanced Technology Department of General Electric’s (GE’s) Power Generation Business, where he was responsible for development of the next generation of power systems and technical interactions with GE’s international business associates. Dr. Corman was previously manager of the Advanced Projects Laboratory of GE Corporate Research and Development; there he led a diverse R&D program in activities ranging from basic technology to pilot-plant demonstration. Dr. Corman is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was a member of several NRC committees. He is chair of the Industrial Advisory Board for Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He has a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.


Paul A. DeCotis is director of energy analysis at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), where he oversees statewide energy planning and policy analysis, corporate strategic planning, program evaluation, and energy emergency planning and response.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
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Prior to joining NYSERDA, Mr. DeCotis was chief of policy analysis at the New York State Energy Office. He is the record access officer for the State Energy Planning Board and chair of the Interagency Energy Coordinating Working Group, made up of staffs of the state departments of Public Service, Environmental Conservation, Transportation, and Economic Development, which is charged with preparing New York’s energy plan. He is also a member of the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) Management Committee, the Business Issues Committee, and the Energy Working Group of the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG). Mr. DeCotis is president of Innovative Management Solutions, a management consulting practice specializing in strategic planning and policy development, mediation, and organizational and executive management training and development. He is an adjunct professor in the M.B.A. program at the Sage Graduate School and in the Public Policy Department at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), and was formerly at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University. He is currently on the board of directors of the Association of Energy Service Professionals (AESP), serving as executive vice president and U.S. Department of Energy experts review panel chair for the weatherization study program evaluation. Mr. DeCotis was past peer review panel chair of the U.S. DOE Federal Energy Management Program and was also a member of the Committee on Prospective Benefits of DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy R&D Programs. He has a B.S. in international business management from the State University of New York College at Brockport, an M.A. in economics from the State University at Albany, and an M.B.A. in finance and management studies from Russell Sage College.


Ramon L. Espino is currently research professor, University of Virginia, Charlottesville; he has been on the faculty since 1999. Prior to joining the Department of Chemical Engineering, he was with ExxonMobil for 26 years. He held a number of research management positions in petroleum exploration and production, petroleum process and products, alternative fuels and petrochemicals. He has published about 20 technical articles and holds 9 patents. Dr. Espino’s research interests focus on fuel cell technology, specifically in the development of processors that convert clean fuels into hydrogen and of fuel cell anodes that are resistant to carbon monoxide poisoning. Another area of interest is the conversion of methane to clean liquid fuels and specifically the development of catalysts for the selective partial oxidation of methane to synthesis gas. He served on the NRC Committee on R&D Opportunities for Advanced Fossil-Fueled Energy Complexes, and is currently a member of the NRC Committee on Review of DOE’s Vision 21 R&D Program. He received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Louisiana State University and an M.S. and a doctor of science in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


Robert W. Fri is a visiting scholar and senior fellow emeritus at Resources for the Future, where he served as president from 1986 to 1995. From 1996 to 2001 he served as director of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. Before joining the Smithsonian, Mr. Fri served in both the public and private sectors, specializing in energy and environmental issues. In 1971 he became the first deputy administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 1975, President Ford appointed him as the deputy administrator of the Energy Research and Development Administration. He served as acting administrator of both agencies for extended periods. From 1978 to 1986, Mr. Fri headed his own company, Energy Transition Corporation. He began his career with McKinsey and Company, where he was elected a principal. Fri is a senior advisor to private, public, and nonprofit organizations. He is a director of the American Electric Power Company and of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and a trustee of Science Service, Inc. (publisher of Science News and organizer of the Intel Science Talent Search and International Science and Engineering Fair). He is a member of the National Petroleum Council and a member of the Biological and Environmental Research Advisory Committee at the Department of Energy (DOE). In past years, he has been a member of the President’s Commission on Environmental Quality, the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, and the University of Chicago Board of Governors for Argonne National Laboratory. He has chaired advisory committees of the National Research Council (NRC); the Carnegie Commission on Science, Technology and Government; EPRI; and the Office of Technology Assessment. He served as chair of the NRC Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy. From 1978 to 1995 he was a director of Transco Energy Company, where he served as chair of the audit, compensation, and chief executive search committees. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi and a national associate of the National Academies. He received his B.A. in physics from Rice University and his M.B.A. (with distinction) from Harvard University.


W. Michael Hanemann is the Chancellor’s Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Goldman School of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley. His previous positions include teaching fellow, Department of Economics, Harvard University; staff economist/consultant, Urban Systems Research & Engineering, Inc. (Cambridge); assistant professor and associate professor, University of California, Berkeley. He is Director, California Climate Change Center, UC Berkeley; member of the U.S. EPA’s Environment Economics Advisory Committee; and a university fellow, Resources for the Future. He has served on several National Academies committees; was chair of the Organizing Committee, Second World Congress of Environmental & Resource Economists (2004); and received an honorary Ph.D. from the Swedish University of Agricultural

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
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Sciences in 2003. His research, expertise, and publications span a wide range of topics in environmental and natural resource economics, evaluation of environmental resources, damage assessment, option value analysis, and econometric studies. He received a B.A. in philosophy, politics, and economics, Oxford University, England; an M.Sc. in development economics, London School of Economics; and M.A. in public finance and decision theory, Harvard University; and a Ph.D. in economics, Harvard University.


Wesley L. Harris (NAE) is the Charles Stark Draper Professor and head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). His expertise is in fluid mechanics; aerodynamics; unsteady, nonlinear aerodynamics; acoustics; lean manufacturing processes; and military logistics and sustainment. Dr. Harris’s background also includes managing major national and international aeronautical and aviation programs and personnel in the executive branch of the federal government. Prior to coming to MIT, he served as associate administrator for aeronautics at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and vice president and chief administrative officer of the University of Tennessee Space Institute. Dr. Harris earned a B.S. in aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia and an M.S. and Ph.D. in aerospace and mechanical sciences from Princeton University.


Martha A. Krebs is the director, Energy R&D Division, California Energy Commission. Prior to that she was a consultant with Science Strategies. She was a senior fellow at the Institute for Defense Analysis (IDA), where she led studies in R&D management, planning and budgeting. She has extensive experience on DOE’s basic and applied energy programs. Dr. Krebs also served as DOE assistant secretary and director, Office of Science, responsible for the $3 billion basic research programs that underlay the Department’s energy, environmental, and national security missions. She also had the statutory responsibility for advising the Secretary on the broad R&D portfolio of the Department and the institutional health of its national laboratories. She has been associate director for planning and development, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where she was responsible for strategic planning for research and facilities, laboratory technology transfer, and science education and outreach. She also served on the House Committee on Science first as a professional staff member and then as Subcommittee staff director, responsible for authorizing DOE non-nuclear energy technologies and energy science programs. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a fellow of the Association of Women in Science, and received the Secretary of Energy Gold Medal for Distinguished Service (1999). She is a member of the National Academies Committee on Scientific and Engineering Personnel and the Navy Research Advisory Committee. She is also a member of the Committee on Prospective Benefits of DOE’s Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy R&D Programs Phase Two. She received her bachelor’s degree and a Ph.D. in physics from the Catholic University of America.


Lester B. Lave (IOM) is the Harry B. and James H. Higgins Professor of Economics and University Professor; director, Carnegie Mellon Green Design Initiative; and codirector, Carnegie Mellon Electricity Industry Center. His teaching and research interests include applied economics, political economy, quantitative risk assessment, safety standards, modeling the effects of global climate change, public policy concerning greenhouse gas emissions, and understanding the issues surrounding the electric transmission and distribution system. He is a member of the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine and a recipient of the Distinguished Achievement Award of the Society for Risk Analysis. He has a B.S. in economics, Reed College, and a Ph.D. in economics, Harvard University.


Richard G. Newell is a senior fellow at Resources for the Future (RFF). His previous positions include researcher and teaching fellow, Harvard University; and senior associate, ICF Incorporated. On RFF’s research staff since 1997, Dr. Newell is currently focusing on the economic analysis of policy design and performance, with a particular interest in technological change and incentive-based policy. His research applications encompass a range of environmental and natural resource issues, including energy efficiency, climate change, air pollution, valuation of costs and benefits over time, and fishery management. He has served as an adviser to state and federal agencies; international, business, and environmental organizations; and private firms. He is a member of the American Economics Association, the Royal Economic Society, the Association of Environmental and Resource Economics, and the European Association of Environmental and Resource Economics. He has a Ph.D. in public policy (environmental/natural resource economics), Harvard University; an M.P.A., Princeton University, Woodrow Wilson School; a B.S. in materials engineering, Rutgers University, and a B.A. in philosophy, Rutgers University.


Jack S. Siegel is a principal with the consulting firm of Energy Resources International, Inc., and president of its Technology and Markets Group. While at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), he held various positions of leadership, including deputy assistant secretary for coal technology and acting assistant secretary for fossil energy. Prior to serving at DOE, he was at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and led efforts to regulate and enforce the Clean Air Act of 1970. Mr. Siegel has broad and extensive experience on energy and environmental issues and has recently been involved in studies on markets for and barriers to clean coal technologies, conventional and advanced turbines, renewable energy systems, distributed power systems, the impact of

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
×

electric power restructuring on fuel and technology choices in the energy sector, options for reductions of greenhouse gases, and energy and environmental analysis in support of a number of foreign countries, the World Bank, and the Global Environment Facility. He served as a member of the NRC’s Committee on Challenges, Opportunities, and Possibilities for Cooperation in the Energy Futures of China and the United States and was a member of the previous Committee on Benefits of DOE R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy. He received the Presidential Award for Superior Achievement (1992) and the Secretary of Energy’s Gold Medal for Outstanding Performance (1994). He has a B.S. in chemical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.


James E. Smith is an associate professor of decision sciences at Duke University. He teaches courses in probability and statistics and decision modeling. Professor Smith’s research interests lie primarily in the areas of decision analysis and real options. More specifically, his research focuses on developing methods for formulating and solving dynamic decision problems and valuing risky investments, taking account of the information provided in futures and options markets. His research has been supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and Chevron Corporation. Professor Smith received B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University (in 1984 and 1986, respectively) and worked as a management consultant prior to earning his Ph.D. in engineering-economic systems at Stanford in 1990. He has been at the Fuqua School of Business since the fall of 1990, and he received the Outstanding Faculty Award from the daytime M.B.A. students in 1993 and 2000; he has been nominated for teaching awards on several other occasions. He spent the 1998-1999 academic year on sabbatical at Stanford and served as associate dean for the daytime M.B.A. program at the Fuqua School of Business from 2000 to 2003.


Terry Surles is program manager for technology integration and policy analysis in the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Previously, he was director for the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research. Before joining PICHTR, Dr. Surles was vice president at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and its subsidiary, the Electricity Innovations Institute. He has also served as program manager of the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) and assistant director for science and technology of the California Energy Commission. Dr. Surles was the associate laboratory director for energy programs at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, following his time at the California Environmental Protection Agency as deputy secretary for science and technology. Dr. Surles was at Argonne National Laboratory for a number of years, holding a number of positions in the energy and environmental systems area, with his last position being general manager for Environmental Programs. Dr. Surles holds a B.S. in chemistry from St. Lawrence University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Michigan State University.


James L. Sweeney is professor and former chair, Department of Engineering-Economic Systems and Operations Research, Stanford University. He has been a consultant, director of the Office of Energy Systems, director of the Office of Quantitative Methods, and director of the Office of Energy Systems Modeling and Forecasting, Federal Energy Administration. At Stanford University, he has been chair, Institute of Energy Studies; director, Center for Economic Policy Research; and director, Energy Modeling Forum. He has served on several NRC committees, including the Committee on the National Energy Modeling System and the Committee on the Human Dimensions of Global Change. He served on the previous Committee on Benefits of DOE’s R&D on Energy Efficiency and Fossil Energy, helping to develop the framework and methodology that the committee applied to evaluating benefits. His research and writings address economic and policy issues important for natural resource production and use; energy markets, including oil, natural gas, and electricity; environmental protection; and the use of mathematical models to analyze energy markets. He has a B.S. degree from MIT and a Ph.D. in engineeringeconomic systems from Stanford University.


Michael L. Telson is the director of National Laboratory Affairs for the University of California in its Washington Office of Federal Governmental Relations. He previously served as chief financial officer (CFO) of DOE from October 1997 (after confirmation by the U.S. Senate) through May 2001. Before working at DOE, he served as a senior analyst on the staff of the Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives. He was responsible for reviewing energy, science, and space issues in the federal budget, including the programs of DOE, the NSF, and NASA, government-wide R&D policy, and certain user fee programs (including FCC spectrum auction issues). He also served as staff economist to the House ad hoc Committee on Energy created to enact the 1978 National Energy Act. Dr. Telson is a member of Sigma Xi, Tau Beta Pi, and Etta Kappa Nu. He is a fellow of the AAAS, as well as of the APS, and received the Meritorious Service and Superior Performance awards from Energy Secretary Richardson and the Gold Medal for excellence from Energy Secretary Abraham. In 2002, he was named a senior fellow of the U.S. Association for Energy Economics. He holds B.S., M.S., E.E., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from MIT and an M.S. in management from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
×
Page 71
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
×
Page 72
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
×
Page 73
Suggested Citation:"Appendix B Committee Biographies." National Research Council. 2007. Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two). Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/11806.
×
Page 74
Next: Appendix C Statement of Task »
Prospective Evaluation of Applied Energy Research and Development at DOE (Phase Two) Get This Book
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Since its inception in 1977 from an amalgam of federal authorities, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has administered numerous programs aimed at developing applied energy technologies. In recent years, federal oversight of public expenditures has emphasized the integration of performance and budgeting. Notably, the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) was passed in 1993 in response to questions about the value and effectiveness of federal programs. GPRA and other mandates have led agencies to develop indicators of program performance and program outcomes. The development of indicators has been watched with keen interest by Congress, which has requested of the National Research Council (NRC) a series of reports using quantitative indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of applied energy research and development (R&D).

The first such report took a retrospective view of the first 3 years of DOE R&D programs on fossil energy and energy efficiency. The report found that DOE-sponsored research had netted large commercial successes, such as advanced refrigerator compressors, electronic lighting ballasts, and emission control technology for flue gas desulfurization. However, some programs were judged to be costly failures in which large R&D expenditures did not result in a commercial energy technology. A follow-up NRC committee was assigned the task of adapting the methodology to the assessment of the future payoff of continuing programs.

Evaluating the outcome of R&D expenditures requires an analysis of program costs and benefits. Doing so is not a trivial matter. First, the analysis of costs and benefits must reflect the full range of public benefits that are envisioned, accounting for environmental and energy security impacts as well as economic effects. Second, the analysis must consider how likely the research is to succeed and how valuable the research will be if successful. Finally, the analysis must consider what might happen if the government did not support the project: Would some non-DOE entity undertake it or an equivalent activity that would produce some or all of the benefits of government involvement?

This second report continues to investigate the development and use of R&D outcome indicators and applies the benefits evaluation methodology to six DOE R&D activities. It provides further definition for the development of indicators for environmental and security benefits and refines the evaluation process based on its experience with the six DOE R&D case studies.

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