Well I went to a few of his lectures and knew a couple of his grad students, run into him at colloquia, stuff like that. I sorta lost track of him when he returned to Berkeley to become the director of LBL (Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory). Scientists don't necessarily make good managers (c.f. the
SSC), but the fact that he still has his job at LBL is a good sign. He's a good communicator which is also a plus.
He seems pretty concerned about environmental issues and has directed a good deal of LBL resources (a DOE facility) on transportation energy. I am, however, a little concerned that he seems to have a focus on biofuels (since my preference is towards electricity). I think there was some controversy a while back since LBL was getting some money from BP to do biofuel research. But I am glad to have someone in that position that actually understands the law of conservation of energy (no pun intended) and should be able to make rational decisions based on facts.
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