Nuclear physicist Ernest J. Moniz has been named chief executive officer and chairman of the board of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a role he will assume in June.
Moniz, the former U.S. Secretary of Energy, has recently returned to MIT as a part-time professor of physics post-tenure and special advisor to the president. He will continue working in this capacity while taking on the new role.
A nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, NTI works to protect lives, the environment, and quality of life today and for future generations. Working with international leaders, scientists, educators, and the public, NTI works to prevent catastrophic attacks with weapons of mass destruction and disruption (WMDD) — nuclear, biological, radiological, chemical, and cyber.
“We are delighted and honored that Ernie will be NTI’s next CEO,” says former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, the organization’s current CEO and co-chair, in NTI’s announcement today. “Ernie comes to us with sterling credentials, deep expertise and enormous credibility in the nuclear and other WMD security fields. Among many other accomplishments, he played a pivotal role in the successful conclusion of the Iran agreement. Ernie is an outstanding leader and a brilliant thinker, who is respected around the globe.”
Nunn and NTI’s other co-chair, philanthropist Ted Turner, will both remain as co-chairmen alongside Moniz.
“I’ve admired NTI’s work and, drawing on my experiences in government and in academia, am looking forward to expanding on its successful track record in reducing global risks in the nuclear, biological, and cyber domains,” says Moniz in NTI’s statement.
Moniz is also a nonresident senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. His previous MIT roles include founding director of the MIT Energy Initiative, head of the Department of Physics, and director of the Bates Linear Accelerator Center.
