Principal Deputy Director Biography
Dr. J. Stephen Binkley
Principal Deputy Director
Office of Science
U.S. Department of Energy
J. Stephen (Steve) Binkley is the Principal Deputy Director in the Office of Science (SC) at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). In this capacity, Dr. Binkley is the senior career science official in the Office of Science, which is third largest Federal sponsor of basic research in the United States, the primary supporter of the physical sciences in the U.S., and one of the premier science organizations in the world.
As the Principal Deputy Director of SC, Dr. Binkley serves as the principal overall advisor to the Director on all aspects of the Office of Science. Dr. Binkley determines the financial and personnel resources needed to achieve mission objectives and support mission operations; oversees and directs the internal organization, staffing, policies, and personnel authorities required to carry out the responsibilities of the organization, including the recruitment of senior managers and technical experts necessary to ensure the success of the programs. He ensures that program activities are strategically conceived and executed to maximize the benefit to organization, the Department, and the United States. Dr. Binkley also serves as the champion for crosscutting issues that affect more than one program office and special research initiatives of priority to Director and the Department leadership.
Dr. Binkley has held senior positions at Sandia National Laboratories, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and the Department of Energy. He has conducted research in theoretical chemistry, materials science, computer science, applied mathematics, and microelectronics. At Sandia, Dr. Binkley managed computer science, fundamental chemistry, combustion science, and chemically reacting flow organizations. He also has served as the manager for the Office of Science’s Combustion Research Facility, at Sandia's Livermore, California location. Dr. Binkley managed Sandia's Office of Science Program, comprising activities in materials science, chemistry, geoscience, magnetic fusion energy, atmospheric measurement technology, and scientific computing at Sandia’s New Mexico and California locations. He also managed activities in Sandia’s national security program, including distributed information systems technology.
At DOE, Dr. Binkley served as a technical advisor to the Assistant Secretary of Defense Programs (subsequently the Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs after the establishment of the National Nuclear Security Administration). At DHS, Dr. Binkley served as the deputy director for technology within the DHS Operations Directorate, where he led and managed the development of systems for monitoring and disseminating situational awareness to federal, state, and local law-enforcement organizations and for coordinating emergency response activities. Returning to DOE in 2006, Dr. Binkley served as a senior technical advisor to the Under Secretary for Science and the Director of the Office of Science.
As head of SC’s Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, Dr. Binkley served as one of the Associate Directors for the Office of Science, and was responsible for the overall management of the ASCR program including: strategic planning; budget formulation and execution; project management; program integration with other Office of Science activities and with the DOE technology offices; and interagency integration.
