A Message from Under Secretary for Science Dr. Raymond L. Orbach to the DOE Office of Science and the Science Community about the Appointment of Dr. Patricia Dehmer as Deputy Director for Science Programs, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy
October 28, 2007
Dear Colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Patricia Dehmer as Deputy Director for Science Programs, Office of Science, U.S. Department of Energy.
The Office of Science has a new structure. We will now have three Deputy Directors -- Deputy for Science Programs (serving as the Acting Director of the Office of Science whenever that position is vacant during changes in Administration or leadership), Deputy for Resource Management, and Deputy for Operations – reporting to the Director, a political appointee confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The Deputy Director for Science Programs will provide scientific and management oversight for the six program offices (basic energy sciences, biological and environmental sciences, fusion energy science, advanced scientific computing research, high energy physics, and nuclear physics) by ensuring program activities are strategically conceived and executed; formulate and defend the Office of Science budget request; establish policies, plans, and procedures related to the management of the program offices; ensure the research portfolio is integrated across the program offices with other DOE program offices and other Federal agencies; and represent the organization and make commitments for the Department in discussions and meetings with high-level government and private sector officials. The position is within the ranks of the U.S. government’s Senior Executive Service (SES).
Dr. Dehmer has been selected from a large and strong pool of applicants for this new position, and I am delighted that she has accepted my offer. The search process was exhaustive, with widespread advertising and assistance from a number of scientific organizations. Dr. Dehmer’s past experience and her planned initiatives as Deputy Director for Science Programs led to my selection of her for this important position.
Dr. Dehmer has extensive experience in research and in administration. She held the position of senior scientist at Argonne National Laboratory, working in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical physics. She was recruited in 1995 to the position of Associate Director for Basic Energy Sciences in the Office of Science. In her twelve-year tenure in that position, the growth in breadth and sweep of her Program was remarkable, with the Program budget rising from approximately $600M in FY 1994 to the President’s request of $1.5B in FY 2008. During the period that she led Basic Energy Sciences, the world’s most powerful spallation neutron source was conceived and built, under budget, ahead of schedule, and with increased scope. She has shepherded the construction of the Linac Coherent Light Source at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center and the National Synchrotron Light Source II at Brookhaven National Laboratory. She has built the structure and hired the personnel that have made Basic Energy Sciences a powerful element in the nation’s scientific portfolio.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Dehmer to this new position within the Office of Science.
Sincerely,
Raymond L. Orbach
Under Secretary for Science
