WILMINGTON, N.C. — The American Nuclear Society (ANS) has elected Dr. Eric Loewen, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) chief consulting engineer for advanced plants technology, as the organization’s president for 2010-11.

Loewen previously served as ANS treasurer and will assume his new position as president-elect during the ANS annual summer conference in San Diego, Calif., June 13-17. The not-for-profit, scientific and educational organization is comprised of 10,500 engineers, scientists, administrators and educators with the vision to continue the development of nuclear science and technology.

Loewen, 48, joined GEH in 2006 and has been spearheading GEH’s development of a “Generation IV” liquid sodium-cooled reactor design. He has been a leading voice for the federal government to support the development of domestic fuel recycling technology to support nuclear energy’s long-term role in addressing the nation’s energy needs and climate-change issues.

“I am deeply honored to help lead the ANS at a time when the administration, lawmakers and regulators in Washington are in the midst of making crucial policy decisions that will affect not only the nuclear energy industry but also other sectors as well, including the healthcare industry that relies on reliable supplies of radioisotopes for vital medical tests,” Loewen said. “The ANS is committed to ensuring that scientific considerations are foremost in these decision-making processes.”

Loewen earned dual bachelor degrees in mathematics and chemistry from Western State College in Colorado in 1983 before entering the U.S. Navy. In 1984, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Nuclear Power School, where he remained as an instructor in nuclear power plant operations.

In 1985, Loewen was assigned as mechanical officer on the cruiser USS Long Beach, where he also served as quality assurance officer and officer of the deck. He completed his active duty service in 1988.

Loewen earned a master’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1992 at the University of Wisconsin—Madison. He then became director of nuclear research for Molten Metal Technology in Fall River, Mass., overseeing the company’s development of hazardous waste management applications.

After returning to the University of Wisconsin to earn his Ph.D. in engineering physics in 1999, Loewen joined the Idaho National Laboratory on the molten lead cooled reactor project, a collaborative project with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Loewen was named the ANS’ 2005 Glenn T. Seaborg Congressional Science and Engineering Fellow and worked for a year in the Washington, D.C. office of then-U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska. There, Loewen helped to coordinate the inclusion of global climate change policy into the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Loewen was profiled in the December 2009 issue of Esquire magazine as part of a review of some of the nation’s brightest minds.

The only other GE executive to lead the ANS was Dr. Bertram Wolfe (1986-1987). Dr. Wolfe was an ANS fellow and an independent energy, business and nuclear industry consultant until his passing in September 2004. Wolfe was a vice president of GE and general manager of the company’s nuclear energy business. He retired from GE in 1992.