WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is excited to announce the expansion of its senior leadership team as the organization enters an ambitious new chapter of science and technology policymaking. 

Erica Goldman and Sara Schapiro have recently joined the FAS leadership team to advance science policy as well as education, workforce, and talent issues respectively:

Erica Goldman joins FAS as Director of Science Policy, after previously helping oversee the Global Council for Science and the Environment (GCSE) in her capacity as Deputy Director. At GCSE, Erica directed a number of initiatives in collaboration with a network of policy and research institutions and diverse groups of scientists to improve the use and uptake of science in environmental decision-making. Erica will help steer FAS and the Day One Project’s strategic efforts to advance science policy across a number of domains. 

Sara Schapiro joins FAS as a Senior Fellow and its first Director of Education, Workforce & Talent. Sara joins FAS after serving as the Vice President of Education at PBS, where she worked to expand educational impact through free, classroom-ready digital resources. Sara brings a depth of expertise and experience to bolster FAS’s capacity to drive progress on innovative education and workforce policy solutions, while helping direct FAS Federal Talent initiatives. Prior to PBS, Sara helped launch “Digital Promise,” an independent, bipartisan nonprofit whose mission is to spur innovation and improve the opportunity to learn for all Americans. 

In addition, two current FAS team members are joining the FAS senior leadership team: 

Jordan Mixter is FAS Director of Operations and Strategy. In this role, Jordan also oversees communications and development, and has shepherded FAS’ operations and staff through its recent leadership transition.

Joshua Schoop is assuming the role of Principal Director for Technology and Innovation and Director for Day One Project. As Deputy Director of the Day One Project, Josh has played a vital role in the initiative’s leadership, strategy, and growth since its inception in 2019. In his new capacity, Josh will help oversee and drive FAS’ efforts across technology and innovation policy. Josh holds a PhD from Tulane University and has spent his career working on applying innovation and research to solve societal challenges. “I cannot imagine anyone better to lead the Day One Project than the person who has been most responsible for so much of its impact” said FAS Chief Executive Officer Daniel Correa.

“These four individuals bring both the vision and entrepreneurial spirit that will help FAS meet the most important challenges of our day with technical expertise and policy impact,” said Dan Correa, CEO.

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization founded in 1945 to meet national security challenges with evidence-based, scientifically-driven policy and expertise. 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) announced the selection of Daniel Correa to serve as Chief Executive Officer of FAS. Since January, Dan has served as Acting President of FAS since former President Ali Nouri departed the organization to join the Biden-Harris Administration. 

“As we mark the 75th year of the Federation of American Scientists, we are thrilled to announce that Dan will step up to serve as the organization’s Chief Executive Officer. We are enormously proud of the impact Dan has made in launching and leading the Day One Project at FAS over the past two years and are thrilled he will bring this leadership and commitment to advancing science and technology policy to build on the organization’s accomplishments over the past 75 years,” Gilman Louie and Rosina Bierbaum, Chair and Vice Chair of the Federation of American Scientists Board of Trustees, said in a joint statement.

“It is an immense privilege to step forward to lead the Federation of American Scientists in this new chapter. Seventy-five years ago, the scientists behind the Manhattan Project established FAS to ensure that the fruits of their labor benefited humankind. As we look ahead, FAS has the opportunity to both continue advancing this important work while evolving to meet a range of today’s pressing challenges — from biological and public health threats to the need to bolster a STEM workforce capable of competing in the 21st century economy, to the perils of a changing climate and more. FAS is the perfect home for this critical work where scientific and technical expertise is indispensable to any effective policy response. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with the stellar team at FAS to advance this mission,” Dan Correa said.

Dan Correa joined FAS in 2019 to launch the Day One Project, a nonpartisan initiative focused on developing new ideas across science and technology policy. As Director of the Day One Project, Dan has built a team focused on developing and implementing new ideas in science and technology policy and supporting scientists and technologists that want to step up and serve in government. Prior to this work, Dan served as a Fellow and Director at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University and as Assistant Director for Innovation Policy at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Dan holds degrees in law and economics from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College.

As CEO of FAS, Dan will be responsible for guiding the organization in a new era of science policymaking, shaping the organization’s vision and overseeing all management including operations, budget, administration, and communications.

“FAS has always been an ‘idea factory’ that helps generate solutions to pressing national problems,” said Steven Aftergood, Director of the FAS Project on Government Secrecy. “Under Dan Correa’s leadership, we know that the organization will extend and expand that problem-solving tradition.

The Federation of American Scientists is a nonpartisan, nonprofit policy research and advocacy organization founded in 1945 to meet national security challenges with evidence-based, scientifically-driven policy and expertise. 

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Federation of American Scientists (FAS), in collaboration with Congressman Bill Foster (D, IL-11) and his office, has launched a new Science Council to:

• Scale up the capacity of Members of Congress and their teams for policy work on pressing science and technology (S&T) issues;
• Facilitate the contribution of nonpartisan, evidence-based information into the U.S. policymaking process; and
• Forge trusted, lasting relationships between policymakers and the S&T community.

The Science Council includes seven leading scientists and technologists, specializing in fields such as infectious diseases, artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and social epidemiology. During the first FAS-convened meeting between the Science Council and Congressman Foster, the experts shared scientific knowledge on many pressing issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, socioeconomic and racial inequality, and the competitiveness of the U.S. research and development enterprise.

“I am a firm believer that policymakers must work with nonpartisan experts to inform comprehensive and effective policies,” said Congressman Foster. “I am grateful to FAS for launching the Science Council, a model where a team of experts in scientific and technological fields can provide members of Congress with the insights and data to underpin evidence-based policy. I am looking forward to all we will be able to accomplish.”

The Congressman’s Science Council is working to augment the Foster office’s S&T policy capacity by providing on-demand, nonpartisan, evidence-based information, research, and analysis on pressing issues the Foster team is addressing. The Council provides scientific information in plain language, in formats that are tailored to meet the moment (such as briefings, one-pagers, or suggested hearing questions) and suitable for sharing widely with congressional staff and Members of Congress. The experts on the Council can also connect congressional offices with other specialists throughout the S&T community, facilitating access to scientific knowledge on an expansive set of issues.

“The U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic would likely have been more effective if every Member of Congress had had a team of STEM experts on standby, with the ability to rapidly connect with them and their networks to get a true sense of potential scenarios the country could be facing, and learning what it would have taken to minimize deaths, infections, and economic impacts,” said Science Council member Nahid Bhadelia, M.D., M.A.L.D, infectious diseases physician, founding director of Boston University’s Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases Policy and Research, and associate director of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories.

FAS modeled Congressman Foster’s Science Council, in part, on PCAST (the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology), and is happy to work with additional congressional offices to build councils tailored to the needs and priorities of individual Members of Congress and their staff. Depending on the preference of the office, council membership can include experts in diverse disciplines spanning the S&T landscape, or be composed of a team of experts focused on one or two core issues, such as infectious diseases, energy, or agricultural practices. FAS is intentional about working to include experts on the councils who are constituents of the Member of Congress, forging powerful connections since the council may be directly affected by pressing issues within the Member’s district or state. As noted in a Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center analysis of the Legislative Branch’s capability to address advancements in S&T, Members of Congress and their staff generally demonstrate a reliance on “regular ‘trusted’ sources in lieu of interrogating the credibility of individual pieces of information produced by that source,” and so establishing a greater number of trusted, lasting relationships between Members of Congress, their teams, and the S&T community can increase the use of science in the policymaking process, bolstering the effectiveness of U.S. public policies.

“Members of Congress have an opportunity to more fully incorporate science-derived information into policy decision-making, helping not only their own constituents, but people all across the U.S., and around the world,” said Michael A. Fisher, Ph.D., FAS senior fellow and director of the Congressional Science Policy Initiative. “Imagine a Congress in which every Senator and Representative is hardwired into the U.S. science community via strong ties with their science council, with on-demand access to evidence-based research and analysis, and how that would improve public policy outcomes.”

The experts serving on Congressman Foster’s Science Council are Danielle Tullman-Ercek, Ph.D., Andrew V. Papachristos, Ph.D., Kiarri N. Kershaw, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Mohanbir Sawhney, Ph.D., M.A. of Northwestern University; Michael V. Volin, Ph.D. of Midwestern University; Fei-Fei Li, Ph.D., M.S. of Stanford University; and Nahid Bhadelia, M.D., M.A.L.D. of Boston University.

For more information regarding FAS’ work to organize and staff science councils for Members of Congress, Dr. Fisher can be reached at sciencepolicy@fas.org.

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The field of synthetic biology has enormous potential for constructively impacting society, already contributing products such as drugs, food ingredients, and living fertilizers. As the field continues to develop, standardization of synthetic biology tools, techniques, and processes could help realize that potential. The rapid growth of the semiconductor industry in the 20th century, and its push for standardization, serves as a potential model for the synthetic biology industry. This idea was explored during a late April hearing held by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, convened to discuss the nomination of Dr. Eric Lander to be director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The potential of synthetic biology

It is critical for the U.S. to continue to lead in synthetic biology. Synthetic biology has the potential to revolutionize many sectors, such as healthcare and agriculture. For example, researchers are working to engineer immune cells to treat cancer, correct defective genes, and optimize antibody and vaccine production. In agriculture, synthetic biology could be used to optimize plants’ ability to use nitrogen and phosphorus, decreasing the amount of chemical fertilizer necessary, or to increase the nutritional value of foodstuffs. Policymakers recognize the potential of synthetic biology; for instance, the discipline is listed as a key research priority in the Endless Frontier Act, and is the primary focus of a separate bipartisan bill that aims to support U.S. synthetic biology.

During the hearing, Dr. Lander suggested (1:06:05) that to make synthetic biology technologies accessible to even more innovators, the federal government should play a role in creating and disseminating synthetic biology “toolkits,” as well as sharing best practices for their use. Dr. Lander related this to the early stages of working with semiconductor toolkits and assembling integrated circuits. Standardization contributed to the advancement of the semiconductor industry, and to take full advantage of synthetic biology’s potential, standards, and standardization, could play a role. Setting standards allows for exact measurements and more precise communication between researchers. For synthetic biology specifically, standardization would support the ability to scale production and take on even more complex tasks. Some of the challenges surrounding standards are the possibility that standardization could reduce researchers’ flexibility and creativity, as well as identifying which systems or processes should be standardized, and successfully deciding on what those standards should be.

Many standardization attempts in synthetic biology have been focused on bacteria because they are generally more easily engineered than other types of cells, and they can produce valuable compounds for both research and industrial uses. Cell-free systems, where components of interest are produced artificially or extracted or enriched from other cells and then refined in vitro, have been successfully standardized, but unfortunately, these systems lack the ability to scale or produce important substances without human intervention. Some areas that researchers are looking to standardize further include the design of strands of DNA, and the production of data and biosystem models.

One federal agency, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), is already working on establishing standards in synthetic biology. NIST is currently working with researchers and manufacturers to develop measurement tools to help compare and reproduce scientific results. One accomplishment was to produce human genome reference materials to help compare the genes of people with different lineages, increase confidence in DNA sequencing, and improve genetic tests. NIST has also helped develop reference materials for monoclonal antibodies and RNA, as well as developed the first method to use DNA to authenticate mouse cell lines used in genetic research.

Standardization would help improve communication between researchers, and quality assurance across the field. The act of standardizing research processes and manufacturing has aided many other industries before, and, as Dr. Lander referenced, one of those is the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductors and standardization

The advent of semiconductors, which are now critical to electronic devices, began in the early 1800s, and research and development continued into the 1900s. A semiconductor is a material whose ability to conduct electricity falls between that of a conductor, such as most metals, and an insulator, such as rubber or glass. Unlike most metals, whose ability to conduct electricity decreases as they get hotter, semiconductors improve their electrical conductivity as they increase in temperature. A large number of semiconductors are made of silicon, though there are other materials, like germanium and gallium arsenide, used as well. Their unique properties make semiconductors extremely important in all modern electrical devices.

When first developed, semiconductors were not standardized. By 1972, there were more than 2,000 different specifications for silicon semiconductor wafers. One of the major industry organizations, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), decided to develop standards for semiconductors and published its first book of these standards in 1978.

These SEMI standards are developed through a network of small volunteer task forces. When a new standard needs to be devised, a task force is created with volunteers from SEMI’s industry member organizations. Any proposed standards are reviewed and voted on by the entire membership. If there are any negative votes, open forum meetings are convened to discuss why those organizations opposed the standards, additional evidence is presented, and if the opposition is considered persuasive, the proposed standards are sent back to the task force for revision. Only after all negative votes have been considered and addressed are the standards approved. All standards developed by SEMI are re-evaluated every five years to ensure they remain up to date.

There have been many benefits to standardization in the semiconductor industry. For example, standardizing the sizes of semiconductors allowed manufacturers to focus on ways to decrease production costs and increase performance without having to devote a substantial amount of time to the fabrication process. Furthermore, measurement standards have allowed scientists to efficiently build upon past research, obtain follow-on funding, and work toward commercialization of new semiconductor technologies.

Moving forward

Synthetic biology will contribute to important advances in medicine, agriculture, and numerous other sectors in the coming years. However, there are still questions as to how to develop standards that allow researchers to more effectively compare data, reproduce results, and create products. The semiconductor industry can be a useful example of how standardization aided the rapid growth of an industry that has revolutionized people’s lives. As different legislative initiatives make their way through the congressional policymaking process, the discussion around synthetic biology standards will only become more necessary. We encourage the CSPI community to serve as a resource to Congress and the federal government in this area as we monitor for future policy developments.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), with financial support from Schmidt Futures, announced that six organ procurement organizations (OPOs) have joined the FAS Organ Procurement Organization Innovation Cohort, committing to use data science and transparency to accelerate improved patient outcomes and to inform ongoing, data-driven policy development. 

This follows the finalization of the bipartisan, scientifically-informed OPO rule that can save more than 7,000 lives each year, and which has been highlighted by both Senate and House leaders as an urgent equity issue. Given COVID-19’s potential to affect and attack organs, coupled with its disproportionate impact on communities of color, the need for reform is only intensifying.

Through the Federation of American Scientists, the OPO Innovation Cohort will share data to establish open and transparent lines of communication between OPOs as nonprofit government contractors and the public they serve, including branches of the federal government, in an effort to build trust and support further reforms that will save patient lives. (See data visualization from the OPO final rule here.)

Working with alumni from the United States Digital Service, over the next 12 months the Innovation Cohort will leverage the most granular OPO data ever shared with external researchers to inform ongoing policy development at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and in Congress. During a transformative period in the organ procurement industry, the Innovation Cohort will help shape the future of organ recovery in America, improving OPO practice and informing OPO policy. Most importantly, the Innovation Cohort will help return OPOs to their core mission by singly focusing on striving toward new heights of operational excellence in order to increase organ transplants in an effort to best serve the public, organ donors, donor families and patients waiting for transplants.

In the coming months, the FAS OPO Innovation Cohort will share additional de-identified, retrospective data with the Federation of American Scientists to be published openly – including all referrals for donation made to the OPOs with every outcome documented, audits of hospital-level deaths, OPO financials (including organ acquisition charges), procurement and organ recovery data from organ recovery centers, and staffing models – and will work actively to source data science partners and researchers to mine these datasets for performance improvement insights.

“COVID-19’s ravaging effect on organs has further increased the urgency of accelerating accountability for the government’s contractors in organ donation. Transparency is a critical first step, and the Federation of American Scientists applauds today’s commitments from six OPO leaders to break from their peers and prioritize patients and the public interest.”

Federation of American Scientists Acting President Dan Correa

“So many of the problems and inefficiencies of the organ waiting list are solvable, but we need a new, data-driven approach. We look forward to seeing how the OPO Innovation Cohort, paired with interdisciplinary talent, can bring transformational change to a sector in dire need of it.”

Schmidt Futures Managing Director and Head of Partnerships Kumar Garg

 

The six OPO CEOs below have underscored their commitment to the following principles:

• Transparency: public sharing of data/analysis in order to set a standard to which all OPOs can be held;
• Accountability: support for the OPO final rule, and any efforts to move up implementation date so all parts of the country can be served by high-performing OPOs as soon as possible in 2024; and
• Equity: commitment to analyzing/publishing data to ensure all parts of community served.

Diane Brockmeier, Mid-America Transplant

Helen Irving, LiveOnNY

Ginny McBride, Our Legacy

Patti Niles, Southwest Transplant Alliance

Kelly Ranum, Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency

Matthew Wadsworth, LifeConnection of Ohio

 

Further, as the House Committee on Oversight and Reform is investigating “poor performance, waste, and mismanagement in organ transplant industry”, the OPOs in the FAS OPO Innovation Cohort offer themselves as a resource for Congressional staff, noting their commitment to transparency, accountability, and equity, setting a standard to which all OPOs should be held. The participating OPOs have informed AOPO that they are leaving AOPO, noting the Committee’s investigation into AOPO’s “lobbying against life-saving reforms.”

A full visualization of the final rule from Bloom can be viewed here.

The Federation of American Scientists is pleased to introduce Fall 2020 Scoville Fellow, Ishan Sharma. The Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship, established in 1987, is a highly-competitive national program that provides recent college and graduate school alumni with the opportunity to work on key issues of peace and security in Washington, D.C.

Ishan will be working on issues at the intersection of emerging technologies and international security, as well as global biosecurity. From artificial intelligence, surveillance, Internet governance, and China-US cyber strategies, his wide array of interests and skills will be fostered at FAS through various research projects and publications. 

“The exponential increase in the power of science and technology brings with it a tremendous amount of good, but also opens the door for certain individuals, non-state actors, and even governments to misuse those advances for nefarious purposes,” said FAS President Ali Nouri. “We are thrilled to have Ishan Sharma from the prestigious Scoville fellowship, working to reduce those risks.” “I don’t know of many recent college graduates that have the privilege of leading their own research and writing projects.” Ishan said about his placement at FAS. “I am looking forward to working closely with FAS staff and leadership team on this exciting project.”

Ishan Sharma

Recently, Ishan won the New America U.S. Security Policy essay contest, for his proposal that counters digital authoritarianism by imagining a liberal-democratic model of AI surveillance. The article, which will be published soon, is best summarized by Ishan himself: 

“AI surveillance is a technology that isn’t going away anytime soon. Bans are a temporary fix, and in the meantime, China is exporting the technology across the world to empower digital authoritarians to crush dissent. It is incumbent upon the U.S.—the world’s technological powerhouse–not only to produce cutting-edge tech but to work with our allies to design global models for ethical use. And it starts on our home turf.”

Former Scoville Fellows have gone on to pursue graduate degrees in international relations and related fields and have taken prominent positions in peace and security with public-interest organizations, the federal government, academia, and more. To date, 193 fellowships have been awarded.

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Washington, DC, June 30, 2020

Mr. Doug Parker
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
American Airlines

Mr. Scott Kirby
Chief Executive Officer
United Airlines

Dear Mr. Parker and Mr. Kirby,

As representative of an organization dedicated to a safe and more secure world, I write to express my strong concerns about your recent decisions to return to booking your airlines’ flights to capacity.

COVID-19 spreads easily and is deadly — as of Tuesday afternoon on June 30th, there have been over 2.6 million confirmed infections and, tragically, more than 126,000 deaths in the US alone. The coronavirus — SARS-CoV-2 — is primarily spread “through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks,” and some of those droplets are aerosolized, remaining airborne for tens of minutes. Moreover, COVID-19 can be transmitted efficiently “by people who are not showing symptoms.” These factors make it all the more critical to follow public health guidance.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that people put at least six feet of distance between themselves and those outside of their households, in addition to taking other preventative measures such as covering the mouth and nose with a cloth face cover when around others. Even air travel at 50 percent capacity, or flights with middle seats left open, while not allowing six feet of distance between people, would be better than nothing.

In light of all this, your decisions to book flights to capacity place your crew and your passengers in excessive danger. That’s why it is also drawing criticism from government experts. The country’s top two federal public health officials — Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Dr. Robert Redfield, CDC director — described your actions as problematic and deeply disappointing at today’s Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing.

For all of these reasons, I urge you to immediately reverse your decision and to protect your passengers and crew from COVID-19 to the extent possible.

Ali Nouri, PhD

President, Federation of American Scientists

The demonstrations that we are witnessing across the nation are in direct response to police violence and to systemic racism that has plagued this country from its birth.

All officers responsible for the senseless killing of George Floyd — which follows a pattern of police brutality against countless other black Americans — must be fully prosecuted under the law.

Justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and other victims will be one step in a long process that is required to bring healing to the country.

The Federation of American Scientists stands with black Americans who have endured centuries of institutional racism that has contributed to everything from disproportionate negative health outcomes in the midst of a pandemic to the killing of unarmed individuals by those who are sworn to protect them.

FAS was created to promote peace and stability throughout the world. As such, we must redouble our own efforts to fight all forms of racism, and to strive for diversity and inclusiveness in our own organization and throughout our community.

Washington, DC, March 18, 2020

Today, the Federation of American Scientists, the Governance Lab at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, and the State of New Jersey  Office of Innovation launched a free interactive tool to help answer the public’s questions on COVID-19 virus in English and Spanish. 

“Ask a Scientist,” located at covid19.fas.org offers answers to questions about the nature of the virus, public health data on the outbreak, guidance on how to protect against contracting the virus, and even information for travellers. All the content is sourced from WHO, CDC, and other reliable and verified sources, researched and edited for readability and clarity by a team of scientific experts. 

“We are in the midst of what could become the greatest infectious disease outbreak of our time,” FAS President Ali Nouri says about the new collaboration. “The public deserves science-based information during this crisis and we’re proud of this partnership to provide that.” 

To use the service, a person types in a question. If they don’t find the answer they need, they can click “Ask a Scientist” and receive a researched answer by a team of FAS researchers and a crowdsourced network of vetted science experts led by the National Science Policy Network. Every answer is sourced, cited and dated to ensure accuracy and timeliness. Answers are then added to the knowledge base for the benefit of others.

“We are getting all hands on deck, and engaging a global volunteer network of scientists, journalists and other experts to lend their know how to provide rapid and accurate information that will help slow the spread of this disease and mitigate its impact,” says Professor Beth Simone Noveck, Director of the Governance Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey.

In addition to providing the public with key information on COVID-19 virus, Ask a Scientist is also designed to dispel myths and disinformation on coronavirus that is circulating online and on social media. 

Ask a Scientist will also be live on the Amazon Alexa by the end of the week. Just say “Alexa, Ask a Scientist” followed by your COVID-19 questions to access the service by voice. 

To visit Ask a Scientist, click here.

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Jeremy J. Stone was president of the Federation of American Scientists from 1970 to 2000, and an influential figure in the history of arms control, human rights, and public interest advocacy.

Jeremy was remembered by colleagues and friends at a gathering in Washington, DC on April 30, 2017. Speakers included:

• Alton Frye (introductory and concluding remarks)
• Richard L. Garwin
• Michael Mann
• Fran Armstrong
• Saule Tuganbaeva

Obituaries

• Jeremy Stone, Who Influenced Arms Control During Cold War, Dies at 81 by Richard Sandomir, New York Times, January 5, 2017
• Jeremy Stone, arms-control advocate who led activist science group, dies at 81 by Matt Schudel, Washington Post, January 5, 2017
• Jeremy J. Stone, 1935-2017 by Steven Aftergood, Secrecy News, January 5, 2017

Catalytic Diplomacy

Following his tenure at FAS, Jeremy created a new organization called Catalytic Diplomacy, from which he launched new initiatives in conflict resolution.

His lively and fascinating memoir, Every Man Should Try: Adventures of a Public Interest Activist can be downloaded for free from the Catalytic Diplomacy website.

Biography

For biographical information, see this Wikipedia page on Jeremy.

President’s Message: What Will the Next President’s Nuclear Policies Be?

by Charles D. Ferguson

The presidential candidates’ debates will soon occur, and the voters must know where the candidates stand on protecting the United States against catastrophic nuclear attacks.

Three-Dimensional Arms Control: A Thought Experiment

by Heather Williams

In order to move beyond old-school arms control, it is useful to revisit the initial goals of arms control.

Welcome Back, Multiple Object Kill Vehicles

by Debalina Ghoshal

Ever since the United States began developing a missile defense system, the focus has been on pursuing a
robust missile defense system.

Nuclear Security and Safety in America: A proposal on illicit trafficking of radioactive material and orphan sources

by Diva Puig

The special nature of nuclear energy requires particular safety and security conditions and stronger protective measures. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as do other international and regional organizations, provides assessment, but it does not know a great deal about the security status of most Member States.

More From FAS: Highlights and Achievements Throughout Recent Months

President’s Message: Reinvention and Renewal

by Charles D. Ferguson

From its inception 70 years ago, the founders and members of the Federation of American Scientists were reinventing themselves.

The Legacy of the Federation of American Scientists

by Megan Sethi

The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) formed after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, precisely because many scientists were genuinely concerned for the fate of the world now that nuclear weapons were a concrete reality.

Scientists and Nuclear Weapons, 1945-2015

by Robert S. Norris

Soon after the end of World War II, scientists mobilized themselves to address the pressing issues of how to deal with the many consequences of atomic energy.

Government Secrecy and Censorship

by Alexander DeVolpi

Our Soviet wartime ally, excluded from the American, British, and Canadian nuclear coalition, used its own espionage network to remain informed. Well-placed sympathizers and spies conveyed many essential details of nuclear-explosive development.

FAS History, 1961-1963

by Freeman Dyson

The meeting started predictably with a discussion of the Test Ban. Many of them spoke suggesting ways and means of getting the public more enthusiastic about the Test Ban.

FAS in the 1960s: Formative Years

by Daniel Singer

By 1960, the test ban treaty and creation of an Arms Control and Disarmament Agency had been added to the FAS agenda and the Kennedy-Nixon presidential campaign was underway.

Revitalizing and Leading FAS: 1970-2000

by Jeremy J. Stone

At the beginning, critics whispered that FAS was just “Jeremy and a telephone” because I operated out of a one-room office and made a business of rounding up famous FAS sponsors and/or the FAS executive committee to sign off on my petitions and testimony. In fact, this was my modus operandi throughout the next 30 years.

FAS’s Contribution to Ending the Cold War Nuclear Arms Race

by Frank von Hippel

FAS, in partnership with Velikhov’s Committee of Soviet Scientists, made vital contributions to ending the U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms race and the Cold War.

FAS Engagement With China

by Richard L. Garwin

We soon learned of the world travels of a delegation of Chinese scientists who were investigating environmental affairs and
remediation in other countries, and both NAS and FAS worked vigorously and enthusiastically to bring the delegation to the United States.

Nuclear Legacies: Public Understanding and FAS

by B. Cameron Reed

In late 1945, a group of scientists who had been involved with the Manhattan Project felt it was their civic duty to help inform the public and political leaders of both the potential benefits and dangers of nuclear energy.

More From FAS: Highlights and Achievements Throughout Recent Months