Steven Koonin, the former provost of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena and current chief scientist of global energy company BP, has been selected by US President Barack Obama to serve as undersecretary of science at the Department of Energy. Koonin would replace Raymond Orbach in overseeing the department's $4.7-billion science portfolio, including running the national laboratory system. The position requires Senate confirmation.

The appointment had been rumoured in Washington for some time; Koonin is a long-time colleague of Steven Chu, the new energy secretary. Both played a major part in setting up a $500-million industry–university alliance between BP, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.