B.A., Smith College
Mary Louise Wagner has over 30 years of experience working on public policy issues in Washington, DC and has been at the forefront of legislative strategy and leadership in the areas of nuclear energy and auto policy in the Congress and the Executive Branch. She served as Democratic Staff Director for the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources until her retirement from federal service in February 2019. She currently does governmental affairs consulting work and is a registered lobbyist.
Prior to coming to the Energy Committee in 2017, Ms. Wagner served in the Obama Administration as a senior policy advisor to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, with responsibility for nuclear energy issues. From 2001 to 2013, Ms. Wagner was a key staffer for Senator Carl Levin from Michigan, working primarily on auto issues. Ms. Wagner also served in the Clinton Administration as a Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Department of Energy, as a senior policy advisor for Secretary Federico Pena and Secretary Bill Richardson, and as Executive Director of Secretary Richardson’s external advisory board. Ms. Wagner was previously on the professional staff of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources from 1987-93 and began her career in the nuclear energy area as a reporter/editor at McGraw-Hill Publications.
Ms. Wagner graduated from Smith College with a degree in government and has served as on the Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Affairs.