Another outstanding pick by Barack Obama: Steven Chu for Energy Secretary

Wow, imagine making somebody the secretary in x based on the fact that they have an extensive background in x. Here's what Wikipedia has on Steven Chu in the first paragraph:

Steven Chu (Chinese: 朱棣文; pinyin: Zhū Lìwén) (born February 28, 1948) is an American experimental physicist and according to MSNBC and other media outlets, President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Energy. He is known for his research in laser cooling and trapping of atoms, which won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997. His current research is concerned primarily with the study of biological systems at the single molecule level. He is currently Professor of Physics and Molecular and Cellular Biology of University of California, Berkeley and the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. As global warming warnings grow more dire, Chu is currently pushing his scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and industry to develop technologies to reduce the impact of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Chief in Chu's campaign is an unprecedented research pact reached between UC Berkeley, oil industry giant BP, the Lawrence Berkeley Lab and the University of Illinois. Nearly US$400 million in new lab space will expand energy-related molecular work centered at Lawrence Berkeley that involves partners around the world; a US$160 million Energy Biosciences Institute (scheduled to open in 2010) and funded by BP will include Chu's separate solar-energy program.

And here's a video with his remarks from the National Energy Summit: