1. Ernest Moniz is currently the co-chair and CEO of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, as well as president and CEO of the Energy Futures Initiative, a nonprofit organization funded by the natural gas industry that works on climate and energy technology issues, which he co-founded in 2017.
Ernest Moniz notably oversaw the production of a MIT Energy Initiative Report, which promoted natural gas as a clean energy source despite since corroborated peer-reviewed research showing methane leaks from natural gas production meant it could have more climate warming potential than coal.
Ernest Moniz, who is one of the founding members of The Cyprus Institute, has served at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as the Cecil and Ida Green professor of physics and engineering systems, director of the Energy Initiative and director of the Laboratory for Energy and the Environment.
Ernest Moniz graduated from Durfee High School in Fall River in 1962, where he was a member of the National Honor Society and was the president of the school's math club.
Ernest Moniz served in the Clinton administration as associate director for science in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President from 1995 to 1997.
Ernest Moniz worked in the United States Department of Energy, serving as undersecretary of energy from 1997 to 2001.
Ernest Moniz was one of the founding members of The Cyprus Institute in 2005, where he and other scholars undertook the coordination, research and planning of the project.
Ernest Moniz was sworn in as energy secretary on May 21,2013 by deputy energy secretary Daniel Poneman.
Ernest Moniz played a crucial role in negotiations toward a comprehensive agreement on the Iranian nuclear program, directly negotiating technical details with the Iranian atomic energy minister Ali Akbar Salehi, an MIT graduate, and reassuring President Obama that concessions important to the Iranians would not pose a major threat.
Ernest Moniz founded a nonprofit organization called the Energy Futures Initiative, where he has promoted the concept of a "Green Real Deal" as a "practical, science-based" solution to climate change.
In 2018, Ernest Moniz was hired by the government of Saudi Arabia to serve as member of the global advisory board of the Neom project, a $500 billion planned megacity in the Tabuk Region.
In November 2020, Ernest Moniz was named a candidate for energy secretary in the Biden Administration.