Dan E. Arvizu
Dan E. Arvizu, BSME
Dan Arvizu has been the director and chief executive of the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) since 2005. NREL, located in Golden, Colorado, is the DOE’s primary laboratory for energy efficiency and renewable energy R&D. NREL is operated for DOE by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, where Arvizu serves as president.
With more than three decades of professional engagement in the clean energy field, Arvizu is recognized as one of the world’s leading experts on renewable and sustainable energy. He has briefed Congress numerous times and delivered state‑of‑technology presentations and keynote addresses at national and international conferences. He established and implemented a new institutional strategy to position NREL for higher impact on global energy challenges. During his tenure, he has overseen an R&D budget exceeding $2.5 billion, including more than $500 million for infrastructure improvements. NREL is now one of the most sustainable and energy‑efficient campuses in the U.S., home to the Research Support Facility, the largest net‑zero energy building in the world powered by 2.5 MW of solar photovoltaics.
In 2004, Arvizu was appointed by President George W. Bush to a six‑year term on the National Science Board (NSB), and in 2010 he was reappointed by President Barack Obama to a second term. In 2012, he was elected chairman of the NSB, the governing board of the National Science Foundation with an annual budget of $7.5 billion and the national science policy advisory body to the President and Congress. Arvizu also serves on numerous boards, panels, and advisory committees, including more than 10 years on the NMSU College of Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Advisory Boards.
Prior to joining NREL, Arvizu was the chief technology officer with CH2M HILL Companies, Ltd. Before that, he held executive positions at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He began his career at AT&T Bell Telephone Laboratories, where he spent four years.
Arvizu holds a bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Stanford University, all in mechanical engineering.