Dr. Dan E. Arvizu has announced his plans to retire at the end of September from his role as the director and chief executive of the Energy Department's (DoE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) -- a position he has held since January 2005. Arvizu also expects to retire as president of Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, at the end of September. (Alliance manages NREL on behalf of the Energy Department.)
"NREL's work is critical to DOE's mission of supporting American leadership in a global clean energy economy," said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. "Under Dan Arvizu's guidance, NREL has become world renowned for clean energy advancement and cutting-edge science. Just one example of Dan's focus on driving technology innovation is the recently opened Energy Systems Integration Facility, which is addressing how new sources of energy can be integrated into our electric grid.
"Under Dan's guidance, we have also seen a successful push to commercialize cutting-edge technologies, many of which are already having a real market impact. Dan is leaving a deep legacy of leadership and innovation, he will be missed."
During Arvizu's 10-year tenure, NREL's research portfolio has nearly doubled, despite increasingly tight federal budgets. High-performance computing, electricity grid integration and fundamental research in materials and biological science have emerged to complement major technology research and development programs in renewable generation, renewable fuels, and buildings energy efficiency. The stature and value of the laboratory's leading energy analysis capabilities have expanded as NREL has examined increasingly complex issues. Under Arvizu's leadership, NREL has markedly increased commercial and public partnerships through which the knowledge and know-how of the laboratory have direct impact in the marketplace.
"Dan has had a tremendous impact on the success and growth of the laboratory, and we are grateful for his visionary leadership on behalf of both NREL and the nation," said Ron Townsend, Alliance board chair and Battelle executive vice president for global laboratory operations. "Under Dan's leadership, the laboratory has established itself as the world's leader in renewable energy research and development."
As director, Arvizu secured funding for and oversaw the transformation of the NREL's main campus in Golden, Colorado, to a model of sustainability, including the award-winning user facility, the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) which added a unique national experimental capability to support public- and private-sector research and development that will accelerate the integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies into legacy energy systems.
"Dan has accomplished tremendous things during his tenure, guiding the lab to higher levels of scientific and operational performance, and substantially improving NREL's infrastructure," said Tom Fleener, Alliance board vice chairman and CFO of MRIGlobal. "His leadership and friendship will be sorely missed, but he will be leaving the lab in an excellent position to move forward."
Alliance will begin a national search for a successor immediately.