The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) recently elected Lawrence Krauss as the chair of the organization’s board of sponsors and Leon Lederman as chair emeritus.
Krauss and Lederman have co-chaired the sponsors’ board since 2009.
“Leon Lederman has been a remarkable scientist and humanitarian throughout an equally remarkable career in physics research,” Krauss said. “He boldly served as the face of an organization that I have admired since I was an undergraduate in physics over 40 years ago: the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It has been one of the greatest privileges of my career to co-chair the board of sponsors along with a scientist of his distinction, and it is my greatest honor to now chair this remarkable group of scientists, scholars and public intellectuals.”
Krauss also serves as the director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, and he has been recognized for his ability to make complex, scientific concepts simple enough for the public to understand. He was originally named a board member in 2006.
Lederman was the director of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory from 1978 to 1979. He has won a National Medal of Science, a Wolf Prize and the Nobel Prize, both in the physics categories.
The board of sponsors aims to amplify what the bulletin is saying in its publications. It also provides counsel on numerous issues including global security, survival and context to the organization’s Doomday Clock statements.
“In the 21st century new threats have emerged, from global climate change to the possibility of cyber terrorism,” Krauss said. “This recent vote of confidence from the board has re-energized me to help my colleagues at the Bulletin and on the board of sponsors continue to lead the effort to explore and expose such threats, and in so doing also examine ways that humanity can avert them.”
