Ferguson, Charles D.
Biography
Charles D. Ferguson has been the president of the Federation of American Scientists since January 1, 2010.
Ten years ago, Dr. Ferguson worked for FAS on nuclear proliferation and arms control issues as a senior research analyst and director of the nuclear policy project.
Asked about his decision to accept the position, Dr. Ferguson said, “I feel profoundly honored to be asked to work with FAS’s immensely talented and dedicated staff and membership. I am committed to leading FAS to become the preeminent non-governmental organization devoted to science and security.”
At the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), he most recently served as the project director of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Weapons Policy, chaired by William J. Perry and Brent Snowcroft. In addition to his work at CFR where he specialized in arms control, climate change, energy policy, and nuclear and radiological terrorism, Dr. Ferguson also is an adjunct professor in the security studies program at Georgetown University and an adjunct lecturer in the national security studies program at the Johns Hopkins University.
Previously, from 2002 to 2004, Dr. Ferguson had been with the Monterey Institute’s Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) as its scientist-in-residence. At CNS, he co-authored the book The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism and was also lead author of the award-winning report “Commercial Radioactive Sources: Surveying the Security Risks,” which was published in January 2003 and was one of the first post-9/11 reports to assess the radiological dispersal device, or “dirty bomb,” threat. This report won the 2003 Robert S. Landauer Lecture Award from the Health Physics Society.
Dr. Ferguson also has consulted with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the National Nuclear Security Administration. From 2000 to 2002, he served as a physical scientist in the Office of the Senior Coordinator for Nuclear Safety at the U.S. Department of State, where he helped develop U.S. government policies on nuclear safety and security issues.
After graduating with distinction from the United States Naval Academy, he served as an officer on a fleet ballistic missile submarine and studied nuclear engineering at the Naval Nuclear Power School.
Dr. Ferguson has written numerous articles on energy policy, missile defense, nuclear arms control, nuclear energy, nuclear proliferation, and nuclear terrorism. He has also authored or coauthored several peer-reviewed scientific articles and published in top physics journals. And in October 2008, he was named by Wired magazine as one of the “Fifteen People the Next President Should Listen To.”
Dr. Ferguson received his undergraduate degree in physics from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees, also in physics, from Boston University in Massachusetts.
Podcast:
Conversation With an Expert
Testimony:
2010 May 19, House Committee on Science and Technology: Charting the Course for American Nuclear Technology and the Department of Energy’s Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap
Blog: From the President's Desk
2010 August 22, World Federation of Scientists' Conference: The Ecology of International Security
2010 Summer, IFRI Security Studies Center: Potential Strategic Consequences of the Nuclear Energy Revival
2010 May 4, Forbes: Controlling Asia's Nuclear Tigers
2010 January/February, Foreign Affairs: The Long Road to Zero - Overcoming the Obstacles to a Nuclear-Free World
2009 Fall, Defense Against Terrorism Review, Vol.2, No.2: Assessing Radiological Weapons: Attack Methods and Estimated Effects
2010 April 12, Radio Free Europe: Obama Welcomes World Leaders for Nuclear Security Summit
2010 April 8, Global Security NewsWire: Nuclear Summit Must Convince Nations of Terror Threat
2010 March 27, Associated Press: Analysis: Nuclear Treaty and Obama's 'New START'
2010 January 15, ScienceNews: Energy, safety and nuclear capabilities intertwined
2010 January 12, BusinessWeek: Iranian Professor Killed in Bomb Blast in Tehran
2010 January 4, Los Angeles Times: Obama's nuclear-free vision mired in debate
2010 March 15 Nuclear Energy Guide (executive producer)
