Message from the president and CEO
I am frequently reminded that the research we publish and the discussions we generate are not for the faint of heart. Nuclear proliferation, the effects of climate change, and the yet unnamed ethical challenges that we may face from disruptive technologies are serious, sobering, and real.
And yet, I am grateful and encouraged by the heart and intelligence of the growing numbers of followers, readers, and supporters of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. With your gifts and your engagement, you confirm that we’re up to the challenges we face—as dire and urgent as they are. In extending my appreciation to all who stand with us, I assure you that we’re as determined as you are to reduce these terrible risks.
We opened a major Doomsday Clock exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago that has welcomed more than thousands of visitors already.
Our Doomsday Clock became another exhibit on “The Seeds of Time” that opened in Shanghai, China.
We regularly fielded media inquiries and responded to journalists and scholars around the world who read our public access website and subscribe to our e-newsletter and award-winning journal.
We participated in the March for Science in our home base of Chicago and supported our colleagues in Washington DC, London and elsewhere.
We deepened our partnerships with outlets catering to a younger audiences such as TeenVogue, NowThis Media, and published far-reaching essays in more traditional outlets like Reuters, the New York Times, and Harpers magazine on ”Destroyer of Worlds: Surviving the Nuclear Present.”
We spoke as panelists and featured experts in more venues than ever before.
We hosted small gatherings with students and supporters who are eager to learn more about our issues.
We continued to widen our circle of stakeholders, drawing on artists, playwrights, and filmmakers to share their insights—and we noted how the Doomsday Clock image and message has permeated modern culture.
We strengthened our bonds with the University of Chicago, where we are based, and where our founders began publishing the Bulletin in 1945.
And we even took a few breaks, notably one to toast the introduction of Atomic Child, a custom botanic beer by Forbidden Root Brewery that honored the Bulletin.
Over the past year, the Bulletin responded as citizens and leaders around the world grappled with clear signs of trouble. With uncertainty increasing and Bulletin stakeholders demanding more interaction and information, we vigorously stepped up our outreach efforts.
Clearly we share a growing uneasiness that nuclear threats are reaching unprecedented levels—demonstrated most vividly when we moved the Doomsday Clock forward to 2 minutes to midnight in January 2018. This followed a year of research and postings in our journal and website, and intense discussions among the members of our Science and Security Board. The worldwide response after the Clock Announcement was markedly solemn and reflective—even more so than in prior years.
Our determination to #RewindtheClock is not driven by panic. It is driven by the unshakeable certainty that we are at a pivotal moment, and that we all have essential roles to fulfill—as citizens, advocates, artists, journalists, scientists, and policymakers.
We cannot do what we do without you. Thank you for your ongoing commitment.
Rachel Bronson, PhD
President and CEO