Here are the qualifications of all 13 people who served as Secretary of Energy before Rick Perry

Perry, who graduated from Texas A&M with a bachelor's degree in animal science, will guide research and policy related to energy production in the US, handle issues related to radioactive waste disposal, lead nuclear reactor projects, and run the US' system of national laboratories. He will also oversee grants that fund scientific research.

That's in addition, of course, to being responsible for the nation's nuclear arsenal.

Unlike those who filled the role before him over the last decade, Perry does not have a professional background in science. (He also once suggested he'd like to eliminate the Department of Energy, though he has since reversed his stance on the matter.)

Perry won't be the first non-scientist to head the department. From the 1970s until 2005, the post was held by people without science or engineering degrees (mostly politicians and lawyers). After that, all Secretaries of Energy had held PhDs until now. Take a look:

1977-1979: James Schlesinger

James Schlesinger was the first US Secretary of Energy, a Republican picked by President Jimmy Carter to head the department just after it was formed. Schlesinger had led the Department of Defense from 1973-1975 and played a significant role in national nuclear policy. As Secretary of Energy, he worked to consolidate the department's functions, which had previously been distributed across several agencies, and funded research efforts that included one of the first federal investigations into the impact of carbon dioxide on our atmosphere.

1979-1981: Charles Duncan Jr.

The second Secretary of Energy under Carter, Duncan also previously served as Secretary of Defense. Carter was criticized for the selection because Duncan, a former executive in the coffee industry, had no direct experience with oil. As secretary, Duncan worked on negotiations with OPEC during a tough period in the global oil economy.

1981-1982: James Edwards

James Edwards was President Ronald Reagan's first Secretary of Energy. A former governor of South Carolina with a background in oral surgery, Edwards was known as a proponent of nuclear energy, and, like Perry once promised to dismantle the Department of Energy (he didn't, of course).

The New York Times reports that Edwards "struggled" in the post — he was criticized for his lack of expertise in the field and hamstrung by the Reagan administration's distaste for the department.

1982-1985: Donald Hodel

Reagan's second Energy Secretary, Donald Hodel served for three years before going on to head the Department of the Interior, a role for which earned him a reputation as a conservationist. A 1985 New York Times op-ed praised Hodel as a replacement for "know-nothing, care-nothing" Edwards, noting his efforts to maximize fossil fuel extraction but criticizing his failure to top up national oil reserves.

Before heading up the Energy Department, Hodel had served as Undersecretary of the Interior.

1985-1989: John Herrington

John Herrington succeeded Hodel, and though both served under Reagan at the same time (once Hodel had moved on to lead the Department of the Interior), they found themselves at cross-purposes. Herrington had no background in energy, but had previously practiced law before becoming Assistant Secretary of the Navy. He made his name trimming the department's spending and successfully pushed to reverse Hodel's decision to restrict the area available for oil and gas extraction.

1989-1993: James Watkins

James Watkins, a former US Navy Admiral and Chief of Naval Operations, headed the Department of Energy under George H.W. Bush. Watkins led a series of waste reductions and environmental efforts as secretary, expanded oil production to counter a reduction in imports during the first Gulf War, and testified before Congress about the end of US production of new nuclear weapons. Later in his career, he continued to head up environmental efforts under the George W. Bush administration.

1993-1997: Hazel O'Leary

Hazel O'Leary was the first Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton, the first and only woman to ever hold the office.

A former prosecutor, O'Leary pushed for an end to nuclear testing in the US and declassified Cold War-era documents showing that the US government had experimented with radiation on human beings. However, she's best known for a series of scandals involving her personal use of government funds, and an allegation (for which she was cleared) that she met with Chinese officials in exchange for a $25,000 donation to her favorite charity.

1998-1998: Federico Peña

A former mayor of Denver and the Transportation Secretary from 1993 to 1997, Peña served as Energy Secretary for 18 months. In that time, he was largely friendly to oil company interests, selling off more than $3 billion in federal land for extraction and supporting efforts to drill in the Caspian Sea. He also made an effort to improve the department's environmental footprint, and fired a contractor at Brookhaven National Laboratory for failing to prevent groundwater contamination. He was criticized for leaving the job so quickly.

1998-2001: Bill Richardson

Bill Richardson, who also served as a congressman from New Mexico and ambassador to the United Nations, was the final Energy Secretary under Clinton. He had no direct energy background, and his most significant public initiatives involved an effort to return federal lands to Native American tribes and ensure that tribal interests were taken into account in energy extraction initiatives.

He also negotiated with OPEC to increase oil production and keep prices down.

His tenure was also marred by a scandal: Richardson publicly accused Wen Ho Lee, who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, of leaking nuclear secrets to the Chinese. Lee was later cleared, and sued the federal government, winning a settlement.

After leaving the department, Richardson went on to become governor of New Mexico.

2001-2005: Spencer Abraham

Spencer Abraham, George W. Bush's first Energy Secretary, was a former US Senator from Michigan. He was the last person to hold the role despite having no direct scientific expertise or training. Like Perry, Abraham had previously called for dismantling the department.

Abraham expanded clean-energy research in the department, pushing funding for hydrogen fuel cell vehicle research. He worked directly on negotiations with his counterpart in Russia for nuclear disarmament, and generally favored fossil fuel extraction in the US.

2005-2009: Samuel Bodman

Samuel Bodman was the first in a line of Energy Secretaries who brought direct scientific expertise to the office. Bodman holds a PhD in chemical engineering from MIT, and served as a professor and departmental director at the university, as well as Deputy Secretary of the Treasury and Deputy Secretary of Commerce.

2009-2013: Stephen Chu

Stephen Chu, Barack Obama's first Secretary of Energy, is a physicist who holds a Nobel Prize in physics for his work on cooling and trapping atoms with laser light. Before taking office, he was a professor at UC Berkley and a director of the Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory.

Chu fought efforts to curb nuclear plant development in the US after the Fukushima disaster in Japan. He also oversaw research that raised questions about the safety of natural gas extraction by fracking, and advocated for a shift from fossil fuels to clean energy sources.

Chu continued to work as a scientist while he was Secretary of Energy, publishing a paper in the journal Nature.

Chu has since returned to academia and developed a high-efficiency lithium-ion battery.

2013-2017: Ernest Moniz

Obama's second Secretary of Energy (and noted hairstyle icon), Ernest Moniz is a nuclear physicist who took office with previous experience working in the Department of Energy.

Moniz continued Chu's aggressive push toward funding clean energy technology. Moniz also worked on the agreement with Iran designed to curb the country's nuclear program, conducting direct negotiations with his Iranian counterpart on the technical aspects of the deal.

Moniz made news in December 2016 for refusing a request from Trump's transition team to hand over the names of Department of Energy employees who worked on climate change and clean energy research and policy.

Current: Rick Perry

Perry was confirmed by the Senate to lead the department on March 2. Prior to his new post, Perry was a three-term governor of Texas, and previously served as the state's Agriculture Commissioner and Lieutenant Governor. He ran for president in the 2012 race, but suspended his campaign in January of that year. Perry holds a bachelor's degree in animal science from Texas A&M, and has expressed support for teaching "intelligent design" alongside evolution in public schools. He also appeared on the 23rd season of "Dancing with the Stars," finishing in 12th place.

Here are the qualifications of all 13 people who served as Secretary of Energy before Rick Perry

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