Samuel Wright Bodman was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 26, 1938. He received a bachelor's in chemical engineering in 1961 from Cornell University and his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)in 1965.

Bodman then served as an associate professor of chemical engineering at MIT. At the same time, he entered the financial sector and served as technical director of the American Research and Development Corporation. In 1970, he went to Fidelity Venture Associates, an offshoot of Fidelity Investments. In 1983, he was named President and chief operating officer of Fidelity. Bodman moved to Cabot Corporation in 1987 and became the company's chief executive officer the next year. Bodman has served in various roles during the administration of George W. Bush. First, he served as deputy secretary of the Department of Commerce from 2001 to 2004, during which time he focused on the operations in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Patent and Trademark Office. He then served as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, focusing on stopping the flow of money from reaching terrorists. Bodman became the eleventh secretary of Energy on February 1, 2005, after being unanimously confirmed by the Senate.