Despite the harsh Republican congressional attacks that marked a
sometimes stormy tenure, departing U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
Secretary Hazel O’Leary will be remembered for her efforts to transform
the agency.
Largely hailed for her leadership by those in the environmental
community O’Leary also brought about a heightened commitment to
minority participation and diversity. It is no wonder that historically
Black college and university (HBCU) officials are among O’Leary’s most
ardent defenders.
“She has done well. We are so proud of her,” said one HBCU president of O’Leary.
O’Leary, who worked at the Energy department during the Carter
Administration, has drawn much praise for transforming the once
secretive and stodgy culture of the U.S. Department of Energy to one of
openness. Charged with building and maintaining the nation’s nuclear
bomb arsenal, DOE had long thrived under military and civilian managers
who were referred to as the “Nuclear Priesthood.” O’Leary has said
DOE’s culture during the Cold War was to focus on building bombs with
little thought given to the consequences of weapons production on the
environment.
Early in her tenure, O’Leary set the tone by releasing previously
classified information about radiation experiments on humans and the
release of radioactive and chemical pollutants into the environment
during four decades of nuclear bomb building. DOE’s transformation has
brought to center stage the agency’s massive environmental cleanup
efforts, which are based at national laboratories around the United
States.
Under O’Leary’s direction, DOE created the Office of Economic
Impact and Diversity by combining the Office of Minority Economic
Impact, the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business, and the Office
of Civil Rights. While DOE’s overall budget fell from $19.3 billion in
1993 to its current level of $16.5 billion, support for programs at
HBCUs more than doubled. Current HBCU funding by DOE is nearly $60
million.
Although the seventeen-member HBCU/Minority Institution
Environmental Technology Consortium got its start under the Bush
Administration, O’Leary’s DOE expanded agency ties to Black colleges
and universities. DOE programs developed partnerships with HBCUs to
pursue the following: collaborative research and development,
technology transfer and commercialization opportunities, energy
curriculum development, infrastructure development, and systemic change
and outreach.
