The following message was sent within EM today:

 

Dear Colleagues:

 

Over the past couple months, first Alice and then Tracy announced they will be retiring soon. Thanks in large part to Tracy's and Alice's leadership, EM has continued to grow and improve as an organization over the last couple years. We have all worked together to improve our organizational and safety culture across the complex. We have better aligned headquarters and field elements towards achieving the overall EM mission of safely completing the cleanup of the environmental legacy brought about from five decades of nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. And we have continued and expanded on efforts to improve our management of project and contracts and our business functions. I want to thank Tracy and Alice for their service to EM and to each and every one of us.

 

EM is an organization with many experts who have worked in the Department and EM for decades. While this means there are often management changes as people retire, it also means we have an able and willing senior management team ready to step up and assume leadership seamlessly.

 

I am pleased to announce that Jim Owendoff and Jack Craig have agreed to serve as acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary and acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, respectively. Jim and Jack both care deeply about the EM mission and its people. They are proven senior executives with the technical and management acumen necessary to help me continue to effectively lead and manage the EM organization.

 

Jim Owendoff came to the Department of Energy in 1995 and held a number of senior management positions since that time. The majority of his service in the Department of Energy has been focused on the EM program. Jim has a thorough understanding of every aspect of EM, both at headquarters and the field. As the acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Jim will be responsible for all of EM's sites and Mission Support Units, effective January 12.

 

Jack Craig has served in various technical, management and executive leadership positions at field sites across EM over the last 25 years. As the acting Associate Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Jack will be responsible for the three EM Mission Units at Headquarters, effective January 6. The Mission Units will greatly benefit from Jack's extensive knowledge of field operations as they continue to work with the sites to ensure we are delivering value to the American taxpayer through our ongoing cleanup efforts across the United States.

 

It has been an honor to lead the EM organization with Tracy and Alice. I am confident that we will continue our success with Jim and Jack in their new roles.

 

Dave