New administration taps UC scholars
A host of UC faculty members have helped shape President Barack Obama's new administration including Steven Chu, selected to head the Department of Energy, and Christina Romer, chosen to head the Council of Economic Advisors.
Nobel laureate Chu, a professor of physics and molecular biology at UC Berkeley, served as director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 2004 to his appointment. Romer, an expert in the Great Depression, is a professor of economics at UC Berkeley and co-director of the monetary economics program at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
In addition, economics professor Laura Tyson, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisors and the National Economic Council in the Clinton administration, served on the Obama economics advisory board with UC Berkeley public policy professor Robert Reich, Clinton's former labor secretary.
UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley also served on the Obama transition team. Edley, the president's professor at Harvard Law School, was a member of both the Carter and Clinton administrations.
Two UC San Diego scholars were also selected to lead transition teams. Nobel laureate Mario Molina, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, was co-leader of the science and technology policy team. Peter Cowhey, dean of the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, was co-leader of the trade policy group.
UC Davis emeritus law professor and former California Supreme Court justice Cruz Reynoso served on Obama's Justice and Civil Rights Agency Review team.