Samuel Wright Bodman III (November 26, 1938 – September 7, 2018) was an American businessman, engineer, and politician who served as the 11th United States Secretary of Energy during the George W. Bush administration, from 2005 to 2009. He was also, at different times, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and the

Deputy Secretary of Commerce The Deputy Secretary of Commerce is a high-ranking position within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was created on December 13, 1979, when President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and nominated Luther H. Hodges Jr., who then cur ...

. In December 2004, Bodman was nominated to replace

Spencer Abraham Edward Spencer Abraham (born June 12, 1952) is an American attorney, author, and politician who served as the tenth United States Secretary of Energy from 2001 to 2005, under President George W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, Abraham pr ...

as the Energy Secretary and was confirmed unanimously by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

on January 31, 2005. During his tenure, he oversaw the security problems at

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...

and a budget in excess of $23 billion and over 100,000 federal and contractor employees.

Early life

Bodman was born on November 26, 1938, in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the son of Lina (Lindsay) and Samuel Wright Bodman. Bodman spent his early years in the Chicago suburbs before he graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. He was a member of

Alpha Sigma Phi Alpha Sigma Phi (), commonly known as Alpha Sig, is an intercollegiate men's social fraternity with 181 active chapters and provisional chapters. Founded at Yale in 1845, it is the 10th oldest Greek letter fraternity in the United States. The ...

fraternity and the

Sphinx Head Society The Sphinx Head Society is the oldest Collegiate secret societies in North America, senior honor society at Cornell University. Sphinx Head recognizes Cornell senior men and women who have demonstrated respectable strength of character on top of a ...

. In 1965, he completed his

Doctor of Science Doctor of Science ( la, links=no, Scientiae Doctor), usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D., or D.S., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries, "Doctor of Science" is the degree used f ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

at the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of th ...

Career

Bodman served as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and began his work in the financial sector as Technical Director of the

American Research and Development Corporation American Research and Development Corporation (ARDC) was a venture capital and private equity firm founded in 1946 by Georges Doriot, Ralph Flanders, Merrill Griswold, and Karl Compton. ARDC is credited with the first major venture capital ...

, a

venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which h ...

firm. From there, Bodman went to Fidelity Venture Associates, a division of the

Fidelity Investments Fidelity Investments, commonly referred to as Fidelity, earlier as Fidelity Management & Research or FMR, is an American multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in 1946 and is o ...

. In 1983 he was named President and

Chief Operating Officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the " C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if ...

and a Director of the Fidelity Group of Mutual Funds. In 1987, he joined

Cabot Corporation Cabot Corporation is an American specialty chemicals and performance materials company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The company operates in over 20 countries with 36 manufacturing plants, eight research and development facilities and ...

, a

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

-based Fortune 300 company with global business activities in

specialty chemicals Speciality chemicals (also called specialties or effect chemicals) are particular chemical products which provide a wide variety of effects on which many other industry sectors rely. Some of the categories of speciality chemicals are adhesives, ag ...

and materials, where he served as Chairman,

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

, and a Director. Bodman was a past director of M.I.T.'s School of Engineering Practice and a onetime member of the M.I.T. Commission on Education. He also was as a member of the Executive and Investment Committees at M.I.T., a member of the

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

, and a Trustee of the

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts, which houses significant examples of European, Asian, and American art. Its collection includes paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and decorative arts. It was found ...

and the

New England Aquarium The New England Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Boston, Massachusetts. The species exhibited include harbor and northern fur seals, California sea lions, African and southern rockhopper penguins, giant Pacific octopuses, weedy seadra ...

. He was also a past director of

E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Bush Administration

Bodman served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the George W. Bush Administration beginning in February 2004. He also served the Bush Administration as the

beginning in 2001. On December 10, 2004, Bodman was nominated to replace

as the United States Secretary of Energy and was confirmed unanimously by the

on January 31, 2005, taking office the next day. He led the

Department of Energy A Ministry of Energy or Department of Energy is a government department in some countries that typically oversees the production of fuel and electricity; in the United States, however, it manages nuclear weapons development and conducts energy-re ...

with a budget in excess of $23 billion and over 100,000 federal and contractor employees. In February 2007, Bodman testified before the

United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces is a subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee in the United States House of Representatives. The Chair of the subcommittee is Democrat Jim Cooper of Tennessee and the Ranking Member i ...

about security problems at

. He stated that "The heart of the problem is a cultural issue at Los Alamos". He asserted that the impediment to improved security was "Arrogance. Arrogance of the chemists and physicists and engineers who work at Los Alamos and think they’re above it all"."Bodman Blames Scientists For Problems at Los Alamos", Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 2007.

Personal life

Bodman married M. Diane (Petrella) Barber in 1997. He had three children, two stepchildren, and eight grandchildren. Bodman died in El Paso on September 7, 2018, at the age of 79. The cause of death was reported to be complications from

primary progressive aphasia Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a type of neurological syndrome in which language capabilities slowly and progressively become impaired. As with other types of aphasia, the symptoms that accompany PPA depend on what parts of the left hemisph ...

. His death was announced by former President George W. Bush on the same day.Former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Dies
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Notes

External links

General

Samuel Bodman's political donations

Articles by Samuel Bodman

World Energy Magazine - Meeting the Need for Affordable and Reliable Electricity

World Energy Magazine - The New Energy Bill: Fueling America's Energy Security

World Energy Magazine - The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership: A Roadmap to Energy Security

World Energy Magazine - Mutual Needs Fuel Cooperative Efforts Between the United States and Africa
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bodman, Samuel 1938 births 2018 deaths 21st-century American politicians American chemical engineers American chief executives American chief operating officers Businesspeople from Chicago Cornell University College of Engineering alumni DuPont people George W. Bush administration cabinet members Illinois Republicans MIT School of Engineering alumni Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Deaths from dementia in Texas Deaths from primary progressive aphasia Politicians from Chicago United States Deputy Secretaries of Commerce United States Deputy Secretaries of the Treasury United States Secretaries of Energy Writers from Chicago