Dr. Ali Nouri leads the Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Affairs as an Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Energy. He was previously serving as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in that office.  Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Dr. Nouri was the President of the Federation of American Scientists, a public policy organization focused on countering WMDs, addressing emerging infectious diseases, and crafting solutions to energy and innovation challenges.  Under his leadership, the organization also tackled science denialism and COVID-19 misinformation by providing timely, science-based information to policy makers and to the public.

Previously, Dr. Nouri served as an advisor in the U.S. Senate for nearly a decade, including six years for a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. During his time in the Senate, he served in various positions including as an Energy and Environment Advisor, a National Security Advisor, and as a Legislative Director. Prior to that, Dr. Nouri served as an advisor to the office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan where he developed initiatives to block biotechnology from being used to produce biological weapons. He earned a B.A. in biology from Reed College and a Ph.D. in molecular biology from Princeton University. He resides in Washington D.C. with his wife, Logan Gibson, and their two sons.

Dr. Nouri published a column, "The Crucial Need for Public Service Scientists," in Inside Higher Ed, in which he and Jennifer Pearl argue that there has never been a more important moment for universities to encourage STEM PhDs to step into the policy-making arena.

On the 2023 GradFUTURES Forum:

I really want to thank gradFUTURES for pulling together this event because there are so many issues right now in public policy that have a nexus with science and technology. We really need more students, postdocs, and faculty members to really bring their advice to policymakers on these issues. Not only that, but this event is helpful for students to pursue a career path from academia to public policy.