Martin Keller — Strategic Adviser

Martin Keller is a strategic adviser to NREL, a position he'll serve through Nov. 4, 2025, before assuming the role of president of the Helmholtz Association, Germany's largest scientific research organization.

From 2015 to Sept. 30, 2025, he served as laboratory director and president of the Alliance for Sustainable Energy—the company that operates NREL for the U.S. Department of Energy. During that time, Keller innovatively and pragmatically applied private-sector best practices at NREL to achieve game-changing scientific outcomes. Under his leadership, the laboratory's research, partnerships, facilities, capabilities, and staff grew significantly.

From 2006 to 2015, Keller led energy, biological, and environmental research programs at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, eventually serving as the associate laboratory director for the Energy and Environmental Sciences directorate.

He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and serves on numerous scientific advisory boards. In 2022, he was named a Most Admired CEO by the Denver Business Journal, and in 2024, he was named Laboratory Director of the Year by the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer.

Keller received his doctorate in microbiology from the University of Regensburg, Germany.