Prize Recipient


Recipient Picture

Laura Grego
Union of Concerned Scientists

Citation:

"For significant, influential analyses of critical issues in international security and arms control, especially in the areas of missile defense, space weapons, and space security; for sustained activities educating students, colleagues, policymakers, and the public about these issues."

Background:

Dr. Laura Grego is a senior scientist and the research director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, where she has worked at the intersection of science and public policy, in particular nuclear weapons, missile defense, and space security issues, for twenty years. She recently completed a Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship at the Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy at MIT. She received her PhD. in experimental physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1999, and BSc. degrees in physics and astronomy from the University of Michigan in 1992. She has authored numerous articles and reports on security issues, and frequently gives talks to expert and non-expert audiences and serves as a subject matter expert for the media. She meets regularly with U.S. government staff and officials and international diplomats to provide scientific information and advocate for better policies for a healthy, safe, sustainable future. Grego serves on APS’ Panel on Public Affairs as the representative of the Forum on Physics and Society. She supports efforts to engage scientists more substantially in nuclear policy issues, including serving on the steering committee of the APS’s Innovation Grantee project the Physicists Coalition for Nuclear Threat Reduction. She is an associate editor for the journal Science and Global Security, and a 2021 Fellow of the APS.