Executive Steering Committee

The Project on Nuclear Issues Executive Steering Committee is an advisory group that meets annually to offer feedback on PONI's performance, consider proposals for new initiatives, and discuss the future of the organization. A diverse selection of PONI members of every experience level across industry, the military, the national nuclear laboratories, academia, and the policy community are nominated to participate each year. The feedback from junior, mid-career, and senior-level committee members informs PONI's planning for the upcoming year and plays an essential role in helping PONI evaluate its strategic direction.

The Executive Steering Committee convened most recently on October 9, 2014 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Committee members discussed how PONI can better fulfill its mission to build a robust community of nuclear experts and advance the public debate on nuclear issues. Particular points of focus included PONI’s efforts to reach out to mid-career nuclear professionals, ways to address the ongoing employment challenges in the nuclear field given the current fiscal environment, and ideas for increasing access to PONI events for members outside the Washington, DC area.

The 2014 Executive Steering Committee included:

• Dr. John Harvey (Chair), Former Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defense Programs
• Dr. Brad Beck, Program Manager, Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Mr. Bob DeGrasse, Vice President and Manager for Government Affairs, Bechtel
• Mr. Wayne Hudson, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters
• Dr. Thomas Karako, Visiting Fellow, International Security Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Mr. David Kostorowski, NNSA Sector Manager,  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Mr. James McKeon, Herbert Scoville, Jr. Peace Fellow, Managing Across Boundaries Initiative, The Stimson Center
• Ms. Carolyn Mullen, Program Coordinator, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
• Mr. Blake Narendra, Roger L. Hale Fellow, Ploughshares Fund
• Mr. Steve Polchek, Deputy, Advisory Committees and Programs Office Executive Director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency
• Ms. Mira Rapp-Hooper, Fellow, Asia Program and Director, Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies
• Ms. Elise Rowan, Communications Officer, Nuclear Threat Initiative
• Mr. Bob Servant, USSTRATCOM J5 Senior Technical Advisor
• Ms. Eileen Vergino, Deputy Director, Center for Global Security Research, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
• Mr. Tristan Volpe, Lawrence Scholar, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory