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Newsletter:  May 2002/ Issue 2
Laura Holgate Addresses PNNL Staff on Maintaining Russian Nuclear Infrastructure

On May 9, Laura Holgate gave her presentation, “Helping Russia Control Its Nuclear Infrastructure,” to Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Richland staff as part of the Pacific Northwest Center for Global Security’s (PNWCGS) seminar series.

“We’re just thrilled to have her at the Lab,” said Mark Leek, who organizes the PNWCGS seminars, expressing his high regard of Holgate.

Holgate, who held her discussion between 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. in the auditorium of PNNL’s William R. Riley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, is a widely respected nonproliferation expert. She is currently Vice President for the Russia/Newly Independent States (NIS) Programs for the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Founded in January 2001 by Ted Turner and Senator Sam Nunn, the Nuclear Threat Initiative is a nonprofit, nongovernmental effort devoted to preventing the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and reducing the risk these weapons pose. The Initiative’s current budget is $250 million over five years.

“Laura has played an important role in nuclear materials disposition,” said Jim Fuller, PNWCGS director. “Her vision and unbound energy to minimize the proliferation threat have made her a significant collaborator in US-Russia nonproliferation activities.”

Before joining the Nuclear Threat Initiative, Holgate directed the US Department of Energy’s Office of Fissile Materials Disposition, where she managed efforts to consolidate and dispose of excess weapons plutonium and highly enriched uranium in the US and Russia. Between 1995 and 1998 she served as Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction at the US Department of Defense where she provided policy oversight of the Cooperative Threat Reduction “Nunn-Lugar” program. This program directs American assistance to Russia and other states of the former Soviet Union in eliminating the legacy of weapons of mass destruction remaining from the cold war.

Holgate also oversaw Department of Defense policy on United States-Russian cooperation concerning the disposition of fissile materials. She served for two years as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy, Ashton B. Carter. She spent six months at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, which is charged with negotiating, implementing and verifying US arms agreements, as a member of the Clinton Transition team. She also served as Special Assistant to the agency’s Acting Director, Thomas Graham, Jr.

“The nation and the world discovered September 11th that there are terrorist forces in the world who will stop at nothing in their efforts to take innocent lives. The work that the US government does to secure nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and materials is our first line of defense in keeping these weapons out of terrorist hands,” Holgate told Congress in recent testimony.

On May 10, Holgate and Fuller were interviewed on the radio show “Weekday” on the subject of US-Russia nonproliferation activities. Later, in the evening, Holgate spoke to Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr.’s Arms Control and International Law class at the University of Washington. Her presentation, “Controlling Fissile Material in Russia,” included discussion of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty, and plutonium disposition. The lecture took place in the University of Washington’s Kane Hall, and was also open to the public. Co-sponsors included the Institute for Global and Regional Security Studies, the Jackson School of International Studies, the Lawyers’ Alliance for World Security and the Abe Keller Peace Fund.

Holgate earned an undergraduate degree in politics from Princeton University, and a Master’s degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She serves on the Executive Board of Women in International Security and has received many medals for public service, including the Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service.