Noël Bakhtian

Boise State’s College of Engineering and the School of Public Service have selected Noël Bakhtian as a Professor of the Practice for 2020-2023. The Professor of the Practice position at Boise State brings successful, celebrated and highly distinguished practitioners in their field to students and the university community.

Bakhtian is currently the executive director of the Energy Storage Center at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and brings years of experience in energy research and policy to university students.

“Dr. Bakhtian brings a wealth of experience in the energy field to her position at Boise State University. Her expertise will be a valuable asset in supporting our faculty, staff and students in advancing Boise State’s impact in energy research and policy, aligned to national needs. Her joint appointment with our School of Public Service and College of Engineering reflects the valuable contributions she will make to our community in energy policy and fundamental research,” said David Estrada, associate director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) and associate professor in the department of material science and engineering.

Most recently, Bakhtian served on the senior leadership team at Idaho National Laboratory as director of CAES. Bakhtian also previously served as a senior policy adviser for environment and energy in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Prior to OSTP, she served as the inaugural Energy-Water Nexus lead at the DOE Office of International Affairs, worked as technical lead on numerous innovative grant programs for DOE’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office, consulted on energy research energy and development and investment for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and served as an energy and environment Fellow in the U.S. Senate.

Bakhtian earned her engineering doctorate at Stanford University’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics; holds master’s degrees from Stanford University and the University of Cambridge, where she was a Churchill Scholar; and completed her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and physics at Duke University.

She serves as a member of the National Academies Board on Science, Technology, and Economic Policy; and as a board member for the Institute for the Quantitative Study of Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity.