Caltech Trustee John Bryson Nominated as Commerce Secretary

President Barack Obama has nominated Caltech trustee John Bryson as the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Commerce. In a speech announcing the nomination, President Obama said that Bryson "understands what it takes for America to succeed in a 21st century global economy. John will be an important part of my economic team, working with the business community, fostering growth, and helping open up new markets abroad to promote jobs and opportunities here at home."

Bryson—who was chairman and chief executive officer of Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison and Edison Mission Group, from 1990 to 2008—is a senior advisor to KKR and a director of the Boeing Company, the Walt Disney Company, and Coda Automotive, Inc. He is chairman of the board of BrightSource Energy and co-chairman of the Pacific Council on International Policy, and is a director of the California Endowment, the W.M. Keck Foundation, and the Public Policy Institute of California. He is also on the advisory board of Deutsche Bank Americas and previously served on a number of educational and environmental boards, including as chairman of the California Business Roundtable, co-chairman of the Electric Drive Transportation Association, trustee of Stanford University, and as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate.

Bryson also served as president of the California Public Utilities Commission and as chairman of the California State Water Resources Control Board. At the start of his career, he was a co-founder and attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national and international environmental group.

He has been a Caltech trustee since 2005.