Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Announces Leadership Changes to Governing Board, Board of Sponsors, and Science and Security Board

For immediate release: March 9, 2016

Bulletin Media Contact: Janice Sinclaire, jsinclaire@thebulletin.org

CHICAGO– March 9, 2016 – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has announced that Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering is being honored with a place on the organization’s Board of Sponsors, where he joins 16 Nobel Laureates and other eminent leaders who act as advisors to the Bulletin and its Science and Security Board.

Herbert Lin, Suzet McKinney, Steven Miller, and Susan Solomon will join the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, increasing the Board’s commitment to the view that both nuclear weapons and climate change are existential threats, while broadening its expertise into international cybersecurity, biosecurity, and disaster management issues.

Steven Fadem will join the Bulletin’s Governing Board, which is tasked with advancing the Bulletin’s mission, guiding its strategic direction, and ensuring good governance.

“We are delighted that Thomas Pickering has accepted a position now on the Board of Sponsors,” Lawrence Krauss, Chair of the organization’s Board of Sponsors, said on Wednesday. “He is an individual of great distinction and experience. The depth and breadth of his knowledge, gained from a diplomatic career that has spanned five decades, is invaluable to us.”

Thomas R. Pickering is currently Chairman of the Board of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He holds the personal rank of Career Ambassador, the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service. He has served as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. From 1989 to 1992 he was Ambassador and U.S. Representative to the United Nations in New York. His last assignment with the Department of State was as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1997 to 2000.

Lin, McKinney, Miller, and Solomon will all join the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board, which serves as the Bulletin’s editorial board, provides expert counsel on issues of nuclear security, climate change, growing global energy demand, and emerging technologies, and produces the organization’s annual Doomsday Clock statement.

“These additions to the Science and Security Board bring cutting-edge expertise to a group of people who spend a great deal of time considering the ramifications of new and dual-use technologies,” Rachel Bronson, executive director and publisher of the Bulletin,said. “The Science and Security Board is stronger than ever and is well-equipped to keep track of ever-newer technologies and developments.”

Dr. Herbert Lin is senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University. He is particularly interested in the use of offensive operations in cyberspace, especially as instruments of national policy. “Herb Lin’s brilliant analysis on cyber issues is familiar to Bulletin readers,” said Lynn Eden, Co-Chair of the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board. “His presence on the Board is an incredible opportunity that will help the Bulletin keep up-to-date in a policy area that seems to become more important with each news cycle.”

Dr. Suzet McKinney is Executive Director of the Illinois Medical District Commission. She is the former Deputy Commissioner of the Bureau of Public Health Preparedness and Emergency Response at the Chicago Department of Public Health, where she oversaw the emergency preparedness efforts for the department and coordinated those efforts within the larger spectrum of Chicago’s public safety activities. A sought-after expert in her field, McKinney also provides support to the U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, to provide subject matter expertise in biological terrorism preparedness to international agencies. Lee Francis, chair of the Bulletin’s Governing Board, expressed his enthusiasm at the addition of McKinney to the Science and Security Board. “Suzet spends her days thinking about how governments and institutions will respond to the catastrophic scenarios that the Doomsday Clock tells us are possible. Her position on the Science and Security Board will provide a boots-on-the-ground view of what the Bulletin is all about.”

Steven E. Miller is Director of the International Security Program at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences where he co-chairs the Committee on International Security Studies (CISS). He is also Co-Chair of the U.S. Pugwash Committee, and is a member of the Council of International Pugwash. Miller co-directs the Academy's project on the Global Nuclear Future Initiative with the Bulletin’s Science and Security Board Co-Chair, Robert Rosner.

“Steve is deeply engaged in nearly every major nuclear security policy discussion. He will bring tremendous international and technical insight to our deliberations,” Rosner said from his office at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Susan Solomon is the Ellen Swallow Richards Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is best known for her fundamental insights into the cause of the Antarctic ozone hole. “More recently, Susan has made important contributions to our understanding of climate change and to the coupling between climate and atmospheric chemistry,” Science and Security Board member and climate scientist Richard Somerville said. “She has almost every honor that an atmospheric scientist can win, including the National Medal of Science, awarded by the President of the United States, plus the rare distinction of having two geographic features in Antarctica named for her: Solomon Saddle and Solomon Glacier."

Steven Fadem is the Chairman of Global Data Sentinel, a cybersecurity firm he co-founded in 2014. In his capacity as Chairman, he has led the company’s strategic development and capital formation. Previously, Fadem ran several private equity-backed companies in the media, energy and financial services areas; the business side of a top-five Am Law firm, Kirkland & Ellis; and a major financial services firm, Geller & Co. which, among other things, possesses a major multifamily office servicing the ultra-high net worth community and is the outsourced CFO for Bloomberg L.P. 

In announcing the appointment of Fadem to the Governing Board, Francis observed that “The top priority of the Governing Board is to anticipate the needs of the organization and its constituencies. Steven Fadem’s experience at a leading law firm, at major energy and financial services advisory companies and now a firm at the forefront of cybersecurity will prove to be an invaluable resource as we go about securing the Bulletin’s future as a vital source of information and analysis to the market.”

These appointments to the Bulletin’s three boards are effective immediately.

About the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists engages science leaders, policy makers, and the interested public on topics of nuclear weapons and disarmament, the changing energy landscape, climate change, and emerging technologies. We do this through our award winning journal, iconic Doomsday Clock, public access website, and regular set of convenings. With smart, vigorous prose, multimedia presentations, and information graphics, the Bulletin puts issues and events into context and provides fact-based debates and assessments. For 70 years, the Bulletin has bridged the technology divide between scientific research, foreign policy, and public engagement.

Bulletin Media Contact: Janice Sinclaire, jsinclaire@thebulletin.org

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