Benn Tannenbaum, Ph.D. Email & Phone Number

Washington Dc-Baltimore Area

I am a volunteer who interviews candidates for the Hertz Fellowship.

Washington D.C. Metro Area

I teach a graduate course on nuclear weapons in the Elliott School of International Affairs.

Washington Dc-Baltimore Area

I served as an advisor to Senate-confirmed and other NNSA senior leadership on Congressional and Intergovernmental (CI) matters. I coordinated NNSA CI activities with those of DOE and other parts of the federal government. I also served as the NNSA lead official for CI matters directing special projects and the preparation of reports and position papers of interest to NNSA and DOE senior- most executives, including the review and analysis of proposed legislation, regulations, and interagency policy paper coordination. Provide executive direction and direct supervision of NNSA CI staff. I drove the increased use of technology to improve responsiveness to Congress and other stakeholders and designed and implemented procedures to improve communications with external stakeholders.

I was a manager in Sandia's Government Relations group and head of Sandia's Washington Program Office. I supported Sandia's research base and worked closely with the Chief Research Officer on the labs'​ research agenda.

Funded by a MacArthur Foundation grant, I worked to connect researchers at universities and non-governmental organizations studying science and security-related topics with policy makers in Congress and the Executive Branch. Topics included nuclear weapons, nuclear forensics, nuclear nonproliferation, cybersecurity, nuclear power, and more. I led a series of studies on a several of these topics and hosted a monthly Science and Security Seminar Series for congressional staff to connect them with leading thinkers in the field.

Worked as the WMD Scholar for the program on Science in the Public Interest. Continue to guest lecture on communicating with Congress in a course in the microbiology department.

Co-authored Flying Blind, a book about advising the federal government and Congress about science for policy and policy for science.

Work included several nuclear policy amendments, numerous oversight letters and staffing the House Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation. The legislative work focused on nuclear "bunker busters", missile defense, Iran's nuclear program and preventing U.S. nuclear technology from being transferred to North Korea. The oversight letters covered issues ranging from the disbanding of the NNSA Advisory Committee, to the failure to secure known nuclear sites in Iraq, to presenting a detailed plan to solve the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation brought nationally recognized experts on topics such as Iran's nuclear program and political situation, dirty bombs, and the Biological Weapons Convention to brief Members of Congress and their staffs. The final Task Force event had Dr. Jane Goodall and Michael Douglas addressing the need for strong, multilateral institutions to solve problems such as nuclear proliferation and environmental damage.

Post Doc in the physics department, studying high energy physics as a member of the CDF collaboration at Fermilab and the CMS collaboration at CERN.

Ph.D., Physics

Dissertation title: Search for Chargino-Neutralino Pair Production at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider

Physics

Ms, Physics

Thesis title: Wavelength shifting fibers and optical connectivity

Ba, Physics

Activities and Societies: Indoor and outdoor track and field (8 letters), DJ at KDIC, the campus radio station, and for all-campus parties.

Hsssp, Physics