NREL Director Arvizu Elected to National Academy of Engineering

Dan Arvizu, director of the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer. Academy membership honors those who have made outstanding contribution to engineering research, practice or education and who have made significant contributions to the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in the traditional fields of engineering, or implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.

Arvizu was cited by the academy for his leadership in the renewable and clean energy sectors, and for promoting national balanced energy policies. Arvizu has served as director of NREL since 2005. He also is president of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, which manages and operates NREL for the Energy Department. Arvizu holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from New Mexico State University and a master’s and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. Arvizu started his career at the AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories. Before coming to NREL, Arvizu served as chief technology officer with CH2M HILL and worked for more than 20 years with Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M.

Arvizu was twice appointed to six-year terms on the National Science Board (NSB), first by President George W. Bush and then by President Barack Obama. In 2012, he was elected to be chairman of the NSB. Arvizu serves on many additional boards and advisory panels including the American Council on Renewable Energy Advisory Board; the Stanford University Precourt Energy Advisory Board; the Singapore Clean Energy International Advisory Panel; the Colorado Renewable Energy Authority Board of Directors; and was a 15-year member of the Great Minds in STEM Board of Directors.

Arvizu was inducted into the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference Hall of Fame in 2008, named the Hispanic Scientist of the year in 2010 by the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa, FL, and in 2013 was inducted into the U.S. News STEM Leadership Hall of Fame.