The eighth group of Sam Nunn Fellows made their capstone trip to Washington D.C. May 1-5, discussing issues and policy with individuals from an extraordinary range of legislative, executive, and administrative offices and including former Georgia Tech president, G. Wayne Clough (with Nunn Fellows in above photo wearing blue shirt).

The Sam Nunn Fellows are a group of pre-doctoral and post-doctoral engineers, scientists, and computer scientists studying the policy-making process in order to prepare them to offer policy advice on technical issues. The core of the program is a year-long graduate seminar funded by the MacArthur Foundation, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and the Callahan Memorial Fund.

On Capitol Hill, the fellows met with staff in the office of Senator Saxby Chambliss as well as with a AAAS Congressional Fellow working with Senator Diane Feinstein on energy issues. They attended congressional hearings on subjects including mass transit system security in the era of terrorist threats, data security in the wake of the Sony data breach, and the vote by the commissioners of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about whether to allow the Department of Energy to withdraw its permit for spent fuel storage at Yucca Mountain.

The Nunn Fellows held discussions with two agencies within the Executive Office of the President (EOP) including a Director at the National Security Council with expertise in cyber-security issues, and with staff in the Office of Science and Technology Policy working on issues pertaining to defense programs and nuclear arms control. Other meetings were with individuals at the United States Institute for Peace, the State Department Science Advisor’s Office (STAS), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Science and Technology office, and with AAAS Fellows posted to the State Department, the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

A highlight of the trip was a dialog with the secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, former Georgia Tech president G. Wayne Clough, whose unique experience as an engineer working in public service provided valuable insights to the fellows. Another was a meeting with Robert Braun, Chief Technologist of NASA and Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Tech.

This extensive itinerary was arranged through the efforts of Bernard Gourley, Project Manager for the Sam Nunn Fellows, as well as Robert Knotts and Fatima Ladipo in the Georgia Tech Federal Relations Office. The Sam Nunn Security Program is directed by Seymour Goodman, Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs.