Rebecca Hersman is a Senior Research Scholar at the Center for the Governance of AI (GovAI). She also serves as an independent consultant and adjunct staff member at RAND and IDA specializing in strategic risk management for complex national security threats. She previously served as Director of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), overseeing more than 2,200 personnel across 50+ countries and managing over $2.4 billion in programs to counter and deter the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). Prior to DTRA, Ms. Hersman was Director of the Project on Nuclear Issues (PONI) and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). From 2009 to 2015, Ms. Hersman was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Countering WMD. She holds an M.A. from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Duke University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.