Neile L. Miller, who has been the principal deputy administrator for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) since August 2010, will become acting administrator on January 18, 2013, upon the retirement of current director Thomas P. D’Agostino. NNSA is a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) responsible for overseeing the nation’s nuclear weapons complex.
Born circa 1957, Miller is a 1975 graduate of Framingham North High School in Framingham, Massachusetts, going on to earn a B.A. in Political Science at Vassar College in 1979 and an M.S. in Foreign Service at the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1981.
Miller started her career at the Congressional Research Service, working on nuclear nonproliferation issues. In 1987, she joined the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as the program examiner for the DOE’s radioactive waste management programs and for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. From 2003 to 2004, Miller served in DOE’s Office of Nuclear Energy, first as associate director for Resource Management and then as associate director of International Nuclear Cooperation.
She returned to OMB to serve as a senior program examiner in the National Security Division from August 2004 to October 2007, where she was responsible for overseeing NNSA programs and the Defense Department Cooperative Threat Reduction program. Returning to DOE, she served as the Department’s budget director from October 2007 to August 2010, where she managed its $29 billion annual budget.
In the private sector, Miller has worked for Cogema, Inc., and as a consultant for clients including DOE, Sandia National Laboratory, and the government of Germany. She also served as policy and communications officer in the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, France.
Miller and her husband, nuclear scientist Dr. Werner Lutze, have two sons, Max and Daniel.
-Matt Bewig
Nomination Hearing Before the Senate Armed Services Committee (pdf)
