WASHINGTON, DC – April 29, 2025 – The Atlantic Council announced today the establishment of the Daniel B. Poneman Chair for Nuclear Energy Policy, housed within the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center’s Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative.
Jennifer Gordon, director of the Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative, will serve as the inaugural holder of this prestigious named chair. The Initiative addresses the role of nuclear energy in US national security and geopolitics, serving an essential role within the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.
The Poneman Chair was established through a generous contribution from Susan and Daniel B. Poneman.
Poneman is a Distinguished Fellow at both the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center and Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security , and he is a member of the Atlantic Council board.
Poneman previously served as president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., from 2015 through 2023, when the company inaugurated the first new US-owned uranium enrichment production line since 1954. He served as US deputy secretary of energy and chief operating officer of the Department of Energy from 2009 through 2014, as well as acting secretary of energy between April and May 2013. From 1990 through 1996, he served at the National Security Council under Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, including four years as special assistant to the president for nonproliferation and export controls.
Poneman is the author of several books, including Nuclear Power in the Developing World, Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis, coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci, received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy.
He has received the Order of the Rising Sun from the government of Japan and the Bronze Tower Order of Industrial Service Merit from the government of the Republic of Korea.
“Nuclear energy has emerged as a key priority on both sides of the political aisle, and a thriving nuclear energy industry is crucial for the United States to sustain global leadership, strengthen alliances, and effectively compete against adversaries,” said Frederick Kempe, president and CEO of the Atlantic Council. “The establishment of the Poneman Chair for Nuclear Energy Policy strengthens the Atlantic Council’s role as DC’s leading platform for shaping policy discussions at the intersection between domestic nuclear energy deployment and global civil nuclear export programs.”
“More than 70 years ago, President Eisenhower set forth a strategic vision for the responsible use of atomic fission to benefit humanity while minimizing the risks of turning that technology to destructive ends,” said Poneman. “The United States now has a rare opportunity to restore its lost nuclear leadership at home and abroad in fulfillment of that vision. The Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative provides a crucial forum to convene leaders from government, business, academia, and non-governmental organizations to help light the path forward.”
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