Samuel Bodman

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title: "Samuel Bodman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1938-births", "2018-deaths", "21st-century-united-states-government-officials", "american-chemical-engineers", "american-chief-executives-of-materials-companies", "american-chief-operating-officers", "businesspeople-from-chicago", "cornell-university-college-of-engineering-alumni", "dupont-people", "george-w.-bush-administration-cabinet-members", "illinois-republicans", "mit-school-of-engineering-alumni", "members-of-the-united-states-national-academy-of-engineering", "deaths-from-dementia-in-texas", "deaths-from-primary-progressive-aphasia", "politicians-from-chicago", "united-states-deputy-secretaries-of-commerce", "united-states-deputy-secretaries-of-the-treasury", "united-states-secretaries-of-energy", "writers-from-chicago"] description: "American businessman, engineer and politician (1938-2018)" topic_path: "engineering" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Bodman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American businessman, engineer and politician (1938-2018) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Sam Bodman
image	Samuel Bodman.jpg
office	11th United States Secretary of Energy
president	George W. Bush
term_start	January 31, 2005
term_end	January 20, 2009
predecessor	Spencer Abraham
successor	Steven Chu
office1	United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury
president1	George W. Bush
term_start1	August 2004
term_end1	January 31, 2005
predecessor1	Kenneth W. Dam
successor1	Robert Kimmitt
office2	United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce
president2	George W. Bush
term_start2	January 22, 2001
term_end2	July 16, 2004
predecessor2	Robert Mallett
successor2	Theodore Kassinger
birth_name	Samuel Wright Bodman III
birth_date
birth_place	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
death_date
death_place	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
party	Republican
spouse	Diane Petrella Barber
education	Cornell University (BS)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, DSc)
caption	Official portrait, 2005
::

| name = Sam Bodman | image = Samuel Bodman.jpg | office = 11th United States Secretary of Energy | president = George W. Bush | term_start = January 31, 2005 | term_end = January 20, 2009 | predecessor = Spencer Abraham | successor = Steven Chu | office1 = United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury | president1 = George W. Bush | term_start1 = August 2004 | term_end1 = January 31, 2005 | predecessor1 = Kenneth W. Dam | successor1 = Robert Kimmitt | office2 = United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce | president2 = George W. Bush | term_start2 = January 22, 2001 | term_end2 = July 16, 2004 | predecessor2 = Robert Mallett | successor2 = Theodore Kassinger | birth_name = Samuel Wright Bodman III | birth_date = | birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = El Paso, Texas, U.S. | party = Republican | spouse = Diane Petrella Barber | education = Cornell University (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, DSc) | caption = Official portrait, 2005 Samuel Wright Bodman III (November 26, 1938 – September 7, 2018) was an American businessman, engineer, and politician who served as the 11th United States secretary of energy during the George W. Bush administration, from 2005 to 2009. He was also, at different times, the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and the Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

In December 2004, Bodman was nominated to replace Spencer Abraham as the Energy Secretary and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on January 31, 2005. During his tenure, he oversaw the security problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a budget in excess of $23 billion and over 100,000 federal and contractor employees.

Early life and education

Bodman was born on November 26, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Lina (Lindsay) and Samuel Wright Bodman. Bodman spent his early years in the Chicago suburbs before he graduated in 1961 with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from Cornell University. He was a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity and the Sphinx Head Society.

In 1965, he completed his Doctor of Science in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Career

Bodman served as an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT and began his work in the financial sector as Technical Director of the American Research and Development Corporation, a venture capital firm.

From there, Bodman went to Fidelity Venture Associates, a division of the Fidelity Investments. a Boston-based Fortune 300 company with global business activities in specialty chemicals and materials, where he served as Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director.

Bodman was a past director of M.I.T.'s School of Engineering Practice and a onetime member of the M.I.T. Commission on Education. He also was as a member of the Executive and Investment Committees at M.I.T., a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and a Trustee of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, an art museum and the New England Aquarium.

He was also a past director of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company.

Bush Administration

Bodman served as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury in the George W. Bush Administration beginning in February 2004. He also served the Bush Administration as the Deputy Secretary of Commerce beginning in 2001.

On December 10, 2004, Bodman was nominated to replace Spencer Abraham as the United States Secretary of Energy and was confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate on January 31, 2005, taking office the next day. He led the Department of Energy with a budget in excess of $23 billion and over 100,000 federal and contractor employees.

In February 2007, Bodman testified before the United States House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces about security problems at Los Alamos National Laboratory. He stated that "The heart of the problem is a cultural issue at Los Alamos".

Personal life

Bodman married M. Diane (Petrella) Barber in 1997.

Bodman died in El Paso on September 7, 2018, at the age of 79. The cause of death was reported to be complications from primary progressive aphasia. His death was announced by former president George W. Bush on the same day.

Notes

References

1. (2008). "Samuel Wright Bodman". Marquis Who's Who.
2. "Samuel Bodman". The University of Texas at Austin.
3. "Cornell University". Alpha Sigma Phi.
4. "Samuel W. Bodman, Secretary of Energy". George Bush White House.
5. "Samuel W. Bodman, Secretary of Energy".
6. (September 7, 2018). "Former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Dies". CBS.
7. "Former Energy Secretary Bodman Dies at 79". ajc.
8. "Bodman Sworn in as 11th Secretary of Energy". U.S. Department of Energy.
9. "President Bush Requests $25 Billion for U.S. Department of Energy's FY 2009 Budget". U.S. Department of Energy.
10. "Bodman Blames Scientists For Problems at Los Alamos". NTI.org.
11. He asserted that the impediment to improved security was "Arrogance. Arrogance of the chemists and physicists and engineers who work at Los Alamos and think they’re above it all"."Bodman Blames Scientists For Problems at Los Alamos", Jon Fox, Global Security Newswire, Feb. 2007.
12. "Department of Energy biography".
13. [https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2018/09/08/samuel-bodman-former-fidelity-executive-served-energy-secretary/DZsGKROfSqZQ1qlYHlvm6O/story.html Samuel W. Bodman, 79; former Fidelity executive served as US energy secretary]
14. [https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/09/07/us/politics/ap-us-obit-bodman.html Former Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman Dies]
15. (2018-09-08). "Samuel W. Bodman, energy secretary under George W. Bush, dies at 79". [[The Washington Post]].

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