Dr. Arun Majumdar

Bio

Arun Majumdar is the Jay Precourt Professor at Stanford University, where he serves on the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and is a Senior Fellow of the Precourt Institute for Energy.

Prior to joining Stanford, he was the Vice President for Energy at Google, where he created several energy technology initiatives and advised the company on its broader energy strategy. He continues to be a consultant to Google on energy.

In October 2009, Dr. Arun 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 till June 2012. Between March 2011 and June 2012, Dr. Majumdar also served as the Acting Under Secretary of Energy, and a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Energy. He currently serves on the US Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board, the Council for the National Academy of Engineering and the Electric Power Research Institute, as well as the Science Board of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is a member of the International Advisory Panel for Energy of the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry and the US delegation for the US-India Track II dialogue on climate change and energy. He was recently appointed by the State Department as a US Science Envoy with an emphasis on energy and innovation in Poland, the Baltics and neighboring region.

Prior to joining the Department of Energy, Dr. Majumdar was the Almy and Agnes Maynard Chair 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 Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His research career includes the science and engineering of nanoscale materials and devices as well as large engineered systems.

Dr. Majumdar is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1989.

Academic Appointments

• Professor, Mechanical Engineering
• Senior Fellow, Precourt Institute for Energy
• Professor (By courtesy), Materials Science and Engineering

Administrative Appointments

• Founding Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency- Energy (ARPA-E)- United States Department of Energy (2009 - 2012)
• Acting Under Secretary of Energy, United States Department of Energy (2011 - 2012)
• Associate Laboratory Director for Energy and Environment, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2009 - 2009)
• Director, Environmental Energy Technologies Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2007 - 2009)
• Director, Berkeley Nanoscience and Nanoengineering Institute, UC Berkeley (2005 - 2008)

Honors & Awards

• Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2013)
• Aurel Stodola Medal and Lecture, ETH Zurich (2010)
• Heat Transfer Memorial Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2006)
• Member, United States National Academy of Engineering (2005)
• Miller Professorship, University of California, Berkeley (2003-2004)
• Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (2003)
• Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (2002)
• Fellow, American American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2002)
• Gustus Larson Memorial Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2001)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

• Member, Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board, Department of Energy (2014 - Present)
• Council Member, United States National Academy of Engineering (2014 - Present)
• Member, Science Policy Board, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC) (2014 - Present)
• Member, Science Advisory Board, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2014 - Present)
• Member, Advisory Council, Electric Power Research Institute (2014 - Present)
• Member, International Advisory Panel- Energy, Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industries (2014 - Present)
• Member, United States Delegation, US-India Track II Dialogue on Climate Change and Energy (2014 - Present)
• Member, Selection Committee, Infosys Science Foundation (2012 - Present)
• Member, Section 10 Peer Committee, United States National Academy of Engineering (2011 - 2014)
• Member, United States National Academy of Engineering Awards Committee (2009 - 2012)
• Chair and Member, Advisory Committee, NSF Engineering Directorate (2006 - 2009)
• Member, Council on Materials Science and Engineering, Basic Energy Science, Office of Science, Department of Energy (2002 - 2007)
• Member, Advisory Board, Engineering Science, Sandia National Laboratories (2006 - 2008)
• Member, Nanotechnology Technical Advisory Group, President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST) (2003 - 2007)
• Member, External Advisory Board, NSF Center for Nanoscale Computing Network, Purdue University (2003 - 2006)
• Member, Advisory Board, Nanoscience and Technology Institute, University of Central Florida (2008 - 2009)
• Founding Chair, Advisory Board, ASME Nanotechnology Institute (2001 - 2006)
• Member, Council on Energy and Engineering Research (CEER), Basic Energy Sciences, US Department of Energy (1998 - 2002)

Professional Education

• PhD, University of California, Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering (1989)
• MS, University of California, Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering (1987)
• BTech, Indian Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering (1985)