OIL & GAS

President Bush announced he intends to nominate Arden Bement Jr., of Indiana, to be Director of the National Science Foundation for the remainder of a six-year term expiring August 2, 2010. Mr. Bement is the current acting director of the agency and of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Bement’s nomination must be confirmed by the Senate. While waiting for his confirmation, he will continue to serve in both positions. He has been the director of NIST since December 2001 and he oversees an annual budget of $773 million and an onsite research and administrative staff of about 3,000 employees. Before coming to NIST, Bement was the head of the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University in Indiana. He also has been a professor at Purdue where he taught nuclear, materials and electrical and computer engineering. Additionally, Bement served as the director of the Midwest Superconductivity Consortium and the Consortium for the Intelligent Management of the Electrical Power Grid. He also worked for TRW Inc., the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and General Electric. He earned his bachelor's degree from the Colorado School of Mines, his master's degree from the University of Idaho, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.