Dr. Robert Marlay is a career member of the U.S. Government's Senior Executive Service. He has been with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies since 1974. He is currently serving as Director, Office of Climate Change Policy and Technology, Office of Policy and International Affairs, and has served as DOE’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Policy and International Affairs. He has held leadership positions in national security, energy programs, energy policy, science and technology policy, climate change, international affairs, and the planning and management of research and development (R&D) programs.

In his present position, Dr. Marlay is responsible for formulating and managing a portfolio of activities addressing global climate change policy, programmatic and legislative analyses, technological research, development, and deployment, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and related international cooperation. His Office supports Cabinet and sub-Cabinet-level committees on related policy and program reviews, interagency coordination, and program implementation. Dr. Marlay serves as the Executive Secretariat to the Interagency Working Group of agency deputies on Climate Change Science and Technology. Concurrently, he serves as Deputy Director, and the senior career official, leading the multi-agency U.S. Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP), a Presidential initiative accelerating development of climate-related technology across Federal R&D agencies, encompassing about $4 billion in annual R&D. He represents the United States at International Energy Agency (IEA) meetings, is Vice-Chair of IEA’s 24-country Energy R&D Experts Group, and contributes to a number of activities associated with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) of the United Nations and the World Meteorological Organization.

Earlier, Dr. Marlay served as Director of DOE’s Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has also held leadership positions in the Offices of Science, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and in the Federal Energy Administration. During the Persian Gulf War he directed staff support for the development of the National Energy Strategy, which led to the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

Dr. Marlay holds a Ph.D. in energy technology and policy, awarded by the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His studies emphasized nuclear physics, thermodynamics, and reactor engineering, complemented by environmental and economic studies of energy technologies and their fuel cycles. His interdisciplinary dissertation, Industrial Energy Productivity, developed quantitative methods for distinguishing between technical change and the changing composition of industrial output, which illuminated the nature of U.S. industrial energy demand and led to a 5,000-word research article in Science. He holds two Masters Degrees from MIT and a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Duke University, where he now serves on the Board of Visitors of the Pratt School of Engineering. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the District of Columbia. He is a recipient of DOE’s Meritorious Service (Silver) Medal, a Presidential Meritorious Rank Award for Senior Executives, and a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Marlay began his Federal career in 1966 as a GS-3, Engineering Aid. In 1969, he accepted a full-time position as a GS-7 Civil Engineer at the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD. From 1971 to 1974, Lieutenant Marlay served on active duty as an officer in the Navy’s Civil Engineer Corps. After joining DOE, he remained active in the Naval Reserve, mostly with the Navy Seabees, commanding large troop units. He rose to the rank of Rear Admiral (O-8), last serving as Deputy Commander, Naval Facilities Engineering Command