Orbach has held numerous visiting professorships at universities around the world, including the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, the Ecole Superieure de Physique et Chimie Industrielle de la Ville de Paris, France and Tel Aviv University. He received an undergraduate degree from California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley.
He is a member of the Division of Condensed Matter Physics of the American Physical Society.
A plasma physics and fusion scientist at the University of California at Los Angeles told Fusion Power Associates that Orbach's appointment could be "a terrific boon to us." "We know him well," he said and "I think he will listen to us." The DOE's Office of Fusion Energy Science is a part of the DOE Office of Science.
The White House press release can be view at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/20011211-8.html