William J. Perry

William J. Perry is an expert on arms control, business, mathematics, and national security. From 1994 to 1997, he served as the US Secretary of Defense under President Clinton.

Perry founded the William J Perry Project in 2013 to educate the public on the dangers of nuclear weapons in the 21st century. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the U.S. Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medal in 1980 and 1981.

The William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies now offers the William J. Perry Award for Excellence in Security and Defense Education to recognize individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to advancing national security.

Perry has also authored and co-authored multiple books including The Button: The New Nuclear Arms Race (2020) and Presidential Power from Truman to Trump and Preventive Defense: A New Security Strategy for America (2000). Perry previously served as the chair of the Bulletin’s Board of Sponsors.

Perry's Bulletin contributions: 

• Former Defense Secretary William Perry: Why we must describe doomsday to keep it from happening
• New online course from The William J. Perry Project: The Threat of Nuclear Terrorism
• William J. Perry on nuclear war and nuclear terrorism
• Why the United States should support the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
• Our advice to President-elect Biden: Break the dangerous pattern of nuclear competition with Russia
• How a US defense secretary came to support the abolition of nuclear weapons
• The Atomic Titanic: an excerpt from “The Button”
• CNN op-ed: Why the world is closer than ever to Doomsday