Most notably
John served five years as president of Nuclear Matters, a national coalition of grassroots advocates working to inform the public and policymakers about the benefits of nuclear energy.
For four consecutive years, he was named one of Washingtonian magazine’s 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy.
In 2015, John was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as Acting Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. He also served as Staff Director of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, which recommended a new strategy for managing nuclear waste in the United States.
He received an Alumni Award for Distinguished Service from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, an Exceptional Service Award from the U.S. Secretary of Energy, and the Laboratory Director’s Award from the Director of Argonne National Laboratory.
Professional experience
John served for nearly a decade at the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) in Washington, D.C. in the role of Senior Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs, providing leadership on financial, economic, electricity market and environmental issues affecting the nuclear energy industry.
Over the course of his career, John spent more than 14 years at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). His earliest roles included Associate Director for Technology, Associate Director for Management and Administration, and Chief of Staff. Later, he was Deputy Manager of DOE’s Idaho Operations Office, where he oversaw federal management of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) contract and helped transform the lab into the nation’s leading nuclear energy research and development facility.
In 2015, he returned to DOE in the role of Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary/Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy and was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Energy. He was responsible for DOE’s research on nuclear energy systems, stewardship of INL operations, and efforts to establish a national strategy for managing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel and high-level nuclear waste.
John served as Staff Director from 2010 to 2012 on the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future, leading the development of its final report on a national strategy for managing nuclear waste.
He served as Managing Partner of the Idaho Office at Gallatin Public Affairs, where he provided energy policy, strategy and communications counsel to industrial and non-profit clients. Earlier in his career, John was Senior Consultant and Manager of Nuclear Programs at Washington Policy & Analysis Inc. providing strategic consulting services to domestic and international clients on energy policy, legislative developments, and communications with elected officials and other policymakers.
At Argonne National Laboratory-West, John served as Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems and Nuclear-Hydrogen Programs Manager, directing the development of next-generation nuclear energy systems.
In 2002, John served as a Congressional Fellow in the office of U.S. Senator Jeff Bingaman, then-chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Education
John holds a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland.
More about John
John serves on the Board of Directors of the American Nuclear Society. He also serves on the Department of Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences Advisory Board at the University of Michigan; the Alumni Advisory Board for the Department of Nuclear, Plasma and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign; and the Advisory Board for Boise State University’s Energy Policy Institute.
He has served on the boards of the Idaho Strategic Energy Alliance and Idaho State University Department of Nuclear Engineering and chaired the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Nuclear Science and Engineering Division Advisory Committee.
John is an ambidextrous golfer, but admits, “I'm not particularly good either way.”