Dr. Steven Chu is the United States Secretary of Energy. A distinguished scientist, he received the 1977 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on the cooling and trapping of atoms with laser light. Prior to his appointment by President Barack Obama in 2009, he was professor of physics, and of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley, and Director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. His recent research has been concerned with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. Born in St. Louis, Missouri to a family with a history of academic and scientific accomplishment, he earned undergraduate degrees in math and physics from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. His Nobel Prize research was carried out at Bell Labs; he taught at Stanford University before assuming his posts in Berkeley. Under Dr. Chu's leadership, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been a center of research into biofuels and solar energy technologies. He has been an outspoken advocate for expanded research in alternative energy technology, and has long argued that a shift away from fossil fuels is essential to combating climate change. As Secretary of Energy, Dr. Chu is charged with implementing President Obama's agenda to invest in clean energy, reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil, address the global climate crisis, and create millions of "clean energy" jobs. He addressed the Academy of Achievement at its 2010 Summit in Washington, D.C.