Sherri Goodman named Distinguished Fellow at Atlantic Council
WASHINGTON, DC – September 3, 2025 – The Atlantic Council announced today that Sherri Goodman has been named a distinguished fellow with both the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security —through its Adrienne Arsht National Security Resilience Initiative and Transatlantic Security Initiative — and the Global Energy Center.
Goodman will play a key role in developing the Council’s work on national security resilience, Arctic security, and energy security.
“Sherri is an exceptional leader,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. “Her decades of service, leadership, and mentorship in the US national security space will be vital as the Scowcroft Center looks to deepen its work on Arctic security and resilience topics.”
Goodman is the author of Threat Multiplier: Climate, Military Leadership and the Fight for Global Security. She previously served as the first deputy under secretary of defense for environmental security at the Department of Defense. Goodman has a three-decade track record of leading, transforming, and driving lasting results in organizations as both a board member and executive in international security, national defense, energy, environment, oceans, critical infrastructure, and scientific research organizations. She coined the now ubiquitous term “threat multiplier,” describing how climate change intensifies national security risks.
“We are very fortunate to benefit from Sherri’s expertise and look forward to engaging her across the Global Energy Center’s events and projects,” said Landon Derentz, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center.
Goodman currently serves as the secretary general of the International Military Council on Climate & Security, representing over forty military and national security organizations addressing the security risks of a changing climate. Sherri is the chair of the Sandia National Labs’ Energy & Homeland Security External Advisory Board. She is the former vice chair of the Secretary of State’s International Security Advisory Board.
She has received numerous honors and awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Environmental Peacebuilding Association in 2024; an Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College in 2018; the Department of Defense Distinguished Service Award in 1998 and 2001; the Gold Medal Award from the National Defense Industrial Organization in 1996; and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Change Award in 2000.
Goodman additionally serves as a member of the Atlantic Council board of directors, alongside her husband, John B. Goodman.
“I am excited and honored to deepen my service to the Atlantic Council at such a critical moment,” said Goodman. “I’m proud to continue working to strengthen US national security resilience across domains at such a volatile time for the world.”
For questions and interview requests, please contact press@atlanticcouncil.org.
About the Atlantic Council
The Atlantic Council promotes constructive leadership and engagement in international affairs based on the Atlantic community’s central role in meeting global challenges. The Council provides an essential forum for navigating the dramatic economic and political changes defining the twenty-first century by informing and galvanizing its uniquely influential network of global leaders. The Atlantic Council—through the papers it publishes, the ideas it generates, the future leaders it develops, and the communities it builds—shapes policy choices and strategies to create a more free, secure, and prosperous world.
