Rachel Bronson

Rachel Bronson is a senior advisor at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.  From February 2015 to January 2025, she served as the Bulletin’s president and CEO where she oversaw the organization’s programming, publishing, communications, fundraising, finances, and stewardship of the iconic Doomsday Clock.  Under her leadership, the Bulletin dramatically increased the organization’s visibility and impact: audience increased by 500%, staff and budget doubled, and activities around nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies grew significantly.

Before joining the Bulletin, Bronson served as the vice president of studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs (January 2007-January 2015), putting the Council on the list of one of the top think tanks to watch, and a publisher of influential policy reports. She also taught “Global Energy” as an adjunct professor at the Kellogg School of Management.

Bronson’s expertise in Middle East politics was honed at the Council on Foreign Relations where she served as senior fellow and director of Middle East studies (September 1999-April 2006) and published widely. Earlier positions include senior fellow for international security affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and adjunct professor at Columbia University.

In 2006, Bronson published Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Oxford University Press), which was later translated into Japanese. Her writings have appeared in publications such as Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs, The National Interest, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. She has appeared as a commentator on numerous radio and television outlets, including National Public Radio, CNN, al Jazeera, the Yomiuri Shimbun, “PBS NewsHour,” “The Charlie Rose Show,” and “The Daily Show.” Bronson has served as a consultant to NBC News and testified before the congressional Task Force on Anti-Terrorism and Proliferation Financing, Congress’s Joint Economic Committee, and the 9/11 Commission.

Bronson proudly served as a board director of the American University of Iraq, and a board member of the Francis W. Parker School. Bronson was featured in the University of Pennsylvania’s Pennsylvania Gazette as a notable alumnus (December 2021) and received the Harry L. Davis Fellowship for Not-for-Profit Leadership from The University of Chicago Booth School in 2017.

Bronson was named by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine as one of 100 Women to Watch (2012), 20 Women to Watch by Crain’s Chicago Business (2008), a Carnegie Corporation Scholar (2003), and a Glamour Magazine “Wow Woman” (2002). She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Economic Club of Chicago. She earned a BA in history at the University of Pennsylvania and an MA and PhD in political science from Columbia University in 1997.