WASHINGTON, June 28 (UPI) -- President Bush plans to nominate retired Rear Admiral Jay Cohen to be undersecretary for science and technology at the Department of Homeland Security.
The White House said in a statement Tuesday that Cohen had most recently served as chief of naval research at the U.S. Department of the Navy -- the final stint of a 35 year career there.
Previously, he served as deputy director for operations to the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. Cohen received a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and his master's from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"If confirmed," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff in a statement, "Cohen will bring critical leadership to this important directorate and vast scientific expertise to the entire department."
If his nomination is confirmed by the Senate, Cohen will replace acting Undersecretary Jeffrey Runge, the department's chief medical officer.
Runge has been heading homeland security's Science and Technology Directorate since March, when Undersecretary Charles McQueary stepped aside, after the department's budget request slashed funding for the directorate by nearly one-third.
The directorate includes the Homeland Security Research Projects Agency, which funds private sector research into anti-terrorism technologies, and is in charge of assessing anti-terrorism goods and services for certification under the SAFETY Act, which provides manufacturers with indemnity against lawsuits.
