Alan D. Pasternak

Alan D. Pasternak, a Lab scientist who worked on the development of new energy technologies and was later chosen by then Gov. Jerry Brown as one of the original appointees to the California Energy Commission, died Sept. 24, at his home in Lafayette, Calif.

Pasternak graduated from the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York City and after college served as an officer in the U. S. Navy from 1956-1959. He received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from UC Berkeley and his bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, where he rowed on the varsity lightweight crew.

At LLNL, he worked on coal gasification and the use of methyl alcohol for fuel.

After leaving the California Energy Commission, where he served from 1975 through 1979, he worked as a consultant, and the lobbyist and technical director of the California Radioactive Materials Management Forum.

In 1990, he returned to Livermore part-time to resume his work on energy policy. In that capacity, in 2000 he wrote the paper, “Global Energy Futures and Human Development: A Framework for Analysis,” which addresses the importance of electricity to the developing world.

He is survived by his wife, Meta L. Pasternak; his children, Jeremy, Benjamin and Emelia, all of San Francisco; and his grandchildren, Abigail and Samuel.