Helena Fu
Director, Office of Critical and Emerging Technology, Department of Energy
Helena Fu earned an undergraduate degree in urban studies and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and she holds a Master’s degree in Environmental and Natural Resource Policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University.
Prior to entering government service, she was part of planning projects across Asia with AECOM. Through policy and programs at ICF International, she supported federal and state environmental, energy, and transportation programs.
Fu served six years at the United States Embassy in Beijing, first as a Deputy Director and later as Energy Attache and Director of the Department of Energy China Office. Later, she served as Director of International Science and Technology Cooperation and Trusted Research in the Office of Science at the Department of Energy. She worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. She became Director for Technology and National Security at the White House National Security Council.
She has served the Department of Energy as the Director of the Office of Critical and Emerging Technology since August of 2023.
In the News…
Director of the Office of Critical and Emerging Technology, Helena Fu, said the new office won’t be doing research itself but will set a vision and coordinate activities across the department.
“DOE has so much equity, so much that we’re doing, in critical and emerging technology that I think does not often rise above the fact that we have the word ‘energy’ in our agency name,” she said.
“The intent of this office is really to bring all that together in a coherent picture, to work across the programs, to work across the labs, to make sure that we’re all on the same page and also that our resources are being leveraged for the good of the nation.”
Director Fu is also the top official dealing with artificial intelligence, saying, “AI obviously presents [a] tremendous challenge… it also presents tremendous opportunity.” She added, “We really need to manage both. We’re both an open, civilian agency, but we have a national security mandate as well, so we’re very comfortable working on both sides of the line.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Director Fu today? You can let her know at:
Director Helena Fu
Office of Critical and Emerging Technology
Department of Energy
L’Enfant Plaza Building
1000 Independence Ave SW
Washington, DC 20585
