Bush nominates Bodman as Energy sec

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- President Bush Friday nominated Samuel W. Bodman to be the next U.S. secretary of energy, replacing Spencer Abraham, who resigned last month.

"Sam Bodman has shown himself to be a problem-solver who knows how to set goals and how to reach them," Bush said at a news conference announcing the nomination.

Bodman, 66, previously served in the Bush administration as a deputy secretary in both the departments of Commerce and the Treasury. An engineer by training, he has taught the subject at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has 31 years of experience as a consultant with the Fidelity Group of mutual funds and Cabot Corp., both in Boston.

Born in 1938 in Chicago, he graduated in 1961 with a B.S. in chemical engineering from Cornell University. In 1965, he completed his Sc.D at MIT and for the next six years served as an associate professor of chemical engineering and technical director of the American Research and Development Corp.

Bodman is married to M. Diane Bodman. The couple live in Washington and have three children, two stepchildren and eight grandchildren.