Former US Senator Sam Nunn, co-chair and CEO of the anti-proliferation Nuclear Threat Initiative and distinguished professor of The Sam Nunn School of International Affairs, has been awarded the Knight Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his decades-long commitment to nuclear disarmament and for his instrumental contributions to securing peace and stability in Europe.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle presented Nunn with the award, which was bestowed by Federal President Joachim Gauck, at a reception on the margins of the Munich Security Conference on February 1 in the presence of German Ambassador to the US Peter Ammon. 

Nunn, who served as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee from 1987 to 1995, founded the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in 2001 with Ted Turner to strengthen global security by reducing the risk of use and preventing the spread of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. In 2007 he joined with Henry Kissinger, George Shultz and William Perry and others in launching the Nuclear Security Project initiative with the ultimate goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. The initiative’s objectives have become part of NATO’s new strategic concept as long-term goals, and the German Federal Government vigorously pursues the goal.