Press Release Announcing NTI Officers and Staff

NUCLEAR THREAT INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES NEW HIRES

Ted Turner and Sam Nunn, Co-Chairmen of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, today announced the hiring of the following officers and associates of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a new organization committed to reducing the global threat from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

“This is a group with extraordinary talent and expertise, and we are extremely pleased to have them on board,” said Senator Nunn, who also serves as NTI’s Chief Executive Officer.

Joan B. Rohlfing, Senior Vice President for Operations: Ms. Rohlfing joins NTI from the U.S. Department of Energy, where she served in several senior positions, including Senior Advisor for National Security to the Secretary of Energy and Director of the Office of Nonproliferation and National Security. During her tenure at DOE, Ms. Rohlfing took an eight-month assignment in New Delhi, India in the wake of the nuclear tests in South Asia and advised Ambassador Celeste on nuclear security issues. Ms. Rohlfing also has held positions as a Professional Staff Member with the House Armed Services Committee and at the U.S. Department of Defense.

Dr. Margaret A. (Peggy) Hamburg, Vice President for Biological Programs: Dr. Hamburg is the former Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She served for six years as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and is the former Assistant Director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. She is a physician and an expert in public health and bioterrorism.

Laura S. H. Holgate, Vice President for Russia/Newly Independent States (NIS) Nuclear Programs: Ms. Holgate previously managed the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program at the U.S. Department of Defense, which provides assistance to Russia and the NIS in securing and destroying their excess nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. She also served as Director of the Office of Fissile Material Disposition at the U.S. Department of Energy.

Brooke D. Anderson, Vice President for Communications: Ms. Anderson comes to NTI from the National Security Council at the White House where she was Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Communications. She also served as Director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Public Affairs, and prior to that, as Deputy Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to former Congressman David Skaggs.

Catherine O’Brien Gwin, Director of Communications: Ms. Gwin comes to NTI from the law firm of King & Spalding, where she served as Senator Nunn’s Director of Communications and Public Policy. She previously served as Senator Nunn’s Press Secretary in the U.S. Senate and the spokesperson for the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Jay Thompson, Program Associate: Mr. Thompson joins NTI from the U.S. Department of State, where he was a political officer in the Bureau of European Affairs. He recently received extensive Russian and Slovak language training and is a former research assistant at the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Jennifer Wethey, Research Assistant: Ms. Wethey worked in Bosnia toward the implementation of the 1995 General Framework Agreement for Peace for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. She is a former Special Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy. She also spent six months studying and conducting research in Kenya on the impact of the Cold War on East Africa.

Mr. Turner and Senator Nunn also announced that Arnold Kanter and Matthew Bunn will be working with NTI as consultants. Mr. Kanter, a noted national security policy analyst, was Senior Director for Defense Policy and Arms Control on the National Security Council staff from 1989-1991 and served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 1991-1993. Mr. Bunn, who served as an advisor on nuclear weapons materials in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 1994-1996, is Assistant Director of the Science, Technology and Public Policy Program in the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative is focused on direct action to reduce the risk of use and prevent the spread of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. NTI is also working to build the trust, transparency and security that are preconditions to the ultimate fulfillment of the Nonproliferation Treaty’s goals and ambitions. Mr. Turner launched the organization in January with a commitment of $250 million in funding over the next five years.

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