WASHINGTON – Dr. Monica Regalbuto was confirmed by the Senate on August 5, 2015 as the Department of Energy’s Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.

“Having served in both the Office of Environmental Management and the Office of Nuclear Energy, Monica is more than ready for her new role at the Department,” said Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz. “Her hands-on experience in all aspects of nuclear waste cleanup and her tenure as an Argonne National Lab scientist have prepared her for the position of Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management.  I thank the Senate for approving Monica’s nomination, and look forward to continuing to work with her on some of the most complex challenges facing the Department.”

As Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Dr. Regalbuto will provide the leadership necessary to continue the safe cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research.  She will work closely with communities that have partnered with DOE and its predecessor agencies for many decades.

Prior to her Senate confirmation, Dr. Regalbuto served as Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Environmental Management, where she applied her deep technical expertise to reduce technical risk and uncertainty in Environmental Management’s cleanup mission across the DOE complex. Previously, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fuel Cycle Technologies in the Office of Nuclear Energy, overseeing the development of our nation’s nuclear fuel cycle.  From 2008 to 2011, Dr. Regalbuto worked for the Department’s Office of Environmental Management as a Senior Program Manager with the Office of Waste Process.

In 1988, she joined Argonne National Laboratory where she worked on the development of high level waste treatment technology.  Dr. Regalbuto joined the BP-AMOCO team in 1996 to manage many of their projects and budgets.  She would return to Argonne in 2001 as the head of the Process Chemistry and Engineering Department in the Laboratory’s Chemical Sciences and Engineering Division. 

Dr. Regalbuto received her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the Mexican Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM). She then pursued a Masters and Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.