Acting Director Biography

Dr. Harriet Kung
Acting Director
Deputy Director for Science Programs
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy

Dr. Harriet Kung is the Acting Director of the Office of Science in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). She also serves as the Deputy Director for Science Programs and is the senior career official providing scientific and management direction and oversight for the SC research programs, including Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Basic Energy Sciences, Biological and Environmental Research, Fusion Energy Sciences, High Energy Physics, and Nuclear Physics, as well as other supporting functions and offices. Dr. Kung served in various leadership roles in Basic Energy Sciences, the largest program in the Office of Science, from 2002 - 2020. Before joining DOE in 2002, Dr. Kung was a technical staff member and a project leader at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Her research focused primarily on nanoscale materials and high temperature superconductivity.

With over 20 years of service in the Department of Energy, Dr. Kung led and cultivated one of the nation’s premier physical sciences programs. During her tenure, she developed a new basic research paradigm in team-science approach to advance DOE’s science and energy missions by spearheading a decade-long, strategic planning initiative to assure timely, science-based solutions. She also positioned the Office of Science as a National Quantum Initiative leader by establishing strategies to capitalize on strong synergy between disciplines such as physics, biology, materials, and engineering, as well as the world-leading scientific user facilities. She has chaired and co-chaired high-level interagency working groups to develop and implement national science priorities.

Dr. Kung received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Presidential Meritorious Executive Rank Award in 2009 and the Distinguished Executive Rank Award in 2022.