Bios

Evaluating Megatons to Megawatts: Setting the Conditions

Monday, June 16, 2025

Program - Process

Andrea Bartoli is a Senior Research Scholar at the Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4), the lead of the Cooperative Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainability Initiative - CNDSI,  the President of the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue, an Executive Advisor of the Soka Institute for Global Solutions - SIGS, and a member of the Steering Group of the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes (GAAMAC). He was previously the Dean of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University and of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations at Seton Hall University. He has been a member of the Community of Sant’Egidio since 1970.

Azin Aliabadi is the Principal of AA Advisory LLC. She has been associated with the Cooperative Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainability Initiative - CNDSI since its inception, when she was the  Associate Director of AC4. She has 15 years of professional work experience in the public and private sectors. Previously, she worked as a Consultant at UNDP and as an Associate at Morgan Stanley in New York. Azin graduated Magna Cum Laude with Distinction from Boston University, received her Master’s degree in Economic Policy from Columbia University, with a STEM designation in Econometrics & Quantitative Economics. She holds an MBA from Cambridge University. 

Beth Harris was Thomas L. Neff’s wife and partner for nearly 30 years. Beth worked alongside Tom as he successfully shepherded the “Megatons to Megawatts” deal for two decades. Most recently, she and Tom were documenting his experiences in “Nuclear Swords into Ploughshares” – a book about the evolution of the deal from its inception to completion, and all the problem-solving along the way.  Beth worked with Tom in his consulting practice, advising numerous companies on new projects, acquisitions, and divestitures, arbitration and litigation strategy, and investment decisions. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas and is a CFA charterholder.

Catherine Harris is the daughter of Thomas L. Neff – the originator of the “Megatons to Megawatts” deal.  She is a current clerk to Justice Goodwin H. Liu at the Supreme Court of California and has focused her legal career on criminal and capital defense advocacy.  She previously served as a law clerk to Judge Fernando M. Olgiun of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and was a litigation associate at O’Melveny & Myers.  She is a graduate of Berkeley Law and holds an undergraduate degree in Physics from Stanford University.

Charise Laveau is a student researcher at Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict and Complexity (AC4), Cooperative Nuclear Disarmament and Sustainability Initiative - CNDSI. She is a master’s student in Earth and Environmental Engineering, with a concentration in water resources and climate risks at Columbia University. She has a background in renewable energy and environmental sustainability. She has previously interned with the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, working on issues of energy, the environment, agriculture, peace, and policy for sustainable development. She is interested in issues of climate risks for developing countries and the intersection of peacebuilding and environmental justice.

Emlyn Hughes is Professor of Physics at Columbia University. He holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford University and a PhD from Columbia. Prior to returning to Columbia as a Professor in 2006, Hughes was a Professor of Physics at Caltech for 11 years. Over the years, Professor Hughes’ research interests have spanned areas of atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. Prof. Hughes’ group was also involved in R&D activities on ultra-thin silicon detectors for future colliders, in collaboration with the Brookhaven National Laboratory and IPHC in Strasbourg, France. Prof. Hughes leads a small effort in medical imaging, using polarized noble gases, in collaboration with the Columbia Medical School. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.

Fiona Simpson is Senior Political Affairs Officer in the Weapons of Mass Destruction Branch of the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs. She is based at the United Nations Headquarters in NYC. She was a senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation during the writing of her book “Detect, Dismantle, and Disarm: IAEA Verification 1992–2005” (USIP Press). Previously, she worked at the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

Frank von Hippel, a nuclear physicist, is a Senior Research Physicist and Professor of Public and International Affairs emeritus at Princeton University, where he co-founded Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security, the journal Science & Global Security, and the non-governmental International Panel on Fissile Materials. His research focuses on nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, nuclear power, and energy issues. He has served as chairman of the Federation of American Scientists and Assistant Director for National Security in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He has contributed to advancing the proposed Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and the U.S. decision in 1977 to abandon reprocessing. He has received numerous awards and honors, including the American Physical Society’s Leo Szilard Award and the George F. Kennan Distinguished Peace Leadership Award. He is currently working on the technical basis for ending the production of highly enriched uranium, the separation of plutonium, and national enrichment of uranium, as well as nuclear arms control and limitations on ballistic missile defense.

Gerald Grandey was the President and CEO of Cameco Corporation, one of the world’s largest uranium producers and was instrumental in the success of the HEU Deal. Connected with Tom Neff prior to the formulation of the process, he identified and suggested ways to overcome impediments to M2M. He joined Cameco in 1993 as Senior Vice President, was appointed President in 2000 and CEO in 2003. In 2010, The Harvard Business Review recognized him as one of the top 100 CEOs in the world because of the value created for shareholders during his tenure. Mr. Grandey retired from Cameco in 2011.

Giuseppe Rotunno is a nuclear engineer who worked with Edoardo Amaldi and his team (Elio Sgreccia, Mario Silvestri, Vincenzo Tornetta, and others). He is currently the President of the Comitato per una Civiltà dell’Amore and Nuclear for Peace. He has been involved in nuclear disarmament since the conference on  “Nuclear Disarmament - Energy for an Industrial Strategy - World Development.” LUISS University - Rome, November 28, 1989. He is the main convener of the gatherings at the Sacro Convento – Assisi. He is among the proponents of the Ethical Commitment Charter for Nuclear Energy created after the Fukushima accident. He collaborates with researchers from all relevant Italian entities invested in nuclear issues (Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA, ENEL …)

Ivana Nikolić Hughes is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Chemistry at Columbia University. She holds a BS with Honors from Caltech. Dr. Hughes obtained her PhD from Stanford University, where she was an American Heart Association Predoctoral Fellow. She has been a faculty member at Columbia University since 2008 and was awarded the Lenfest Distinguished Columbia Faculty Award for 2020. Her work on ascertaining the radiological conditions in the Marshall Islands has been covered widely. Dr. Hughes currently serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Group to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Her writing has appeared in The Nation, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Hill, Scientific American, and elsewhere.

Jeffrey L. Hughes worked at the National Security Council at the White House under President Reagan from 1986-1989 and President Obama from 2009-2011. He was a Member of the Policy Planning Staff at the State Department under Secretary Baker from 1989 to 1993. At the US Department of Energy, he served as an advisor in the Office of the Secretary under five Secretaries between 1993 and 2017. He also worked for Sandia National Laboratories. One focus of Hughes’ work dealt with securing nuclear weapons materials, including the U.S.-Russia HEU Purchase Agreement. He finished his career in government as Senior Advisor for national security to Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and was co-chair of the Secretary’s Task Force to successfully implement the Iran Nuclear Agreement from 2015-2017. Hughes later consulted for the Nuclear Threat Initiative in Washington, DC. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and a master’s degree from Stanford University.

Jennifer Eburuoh is a PhD Candidate in International Relations at American University. Her research interests focus on the identification and mitigation of climatic and social drivers of land disputes in sub-Saharan Africa. She contributes research and writing support to the environmental assessment of the Megatons to Megawatts program as a Fellow at the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue. Presently, she works as a Research Intern at the Bethany Land Institute in Uganda and previously served as Protection Counselor at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Washington, DC. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and Global Affairs with a concentration in International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame.  

Joshua Fisher is the AC4’s Director and the Principal Investigator for its Environment, Peace, and Sustainability Program. Dr. Fisher employs natural and social science methodologies to understand the nexus of environmental sustainability, natural resource governance, and social stability, working in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia Pacific, and the United States. Dr. Fisher completed his postdoctoral work at The Earth Institute, where he focused on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. He worked in the private sector as a Senior Scientist on USG contracts and with several conservation NGOs. He formerly served as a land-use planner for the US Bureau of Land Management. He holds advanced degrees in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University and Political Science from Utah State University.

Kentaro Shintaku is a consultant at the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue (SFPD). He has been engaged in projects related to the Nuclear Disarmament Education (NDE). He was the organizer for a nuclear disarmament education forum while pursuing an M.A. at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He helped coordinate a teachers' conference on nuclear disarmament education while working as a Fellow at the Soka Institute for Global Solutions (SIGS) at Soka University of America. He holds a B.A. from Soka University of America and is pursuing a Ph.D. at Teachers College, Columbia University.

Laurie Johnston is the Executive Vice President of the Sant'Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue - SFPD and Professor of Theology at Emmanuel College in Boston. She is a member of the Board of the Catholic Peacebuilding Network - CPN and of the Global Action Against Mass Atrocity Crimes - GAAMAC. She is a member of the Informal M2M Exploratory Working Group - IEWG. She has been a member of Sant'Egidio for more than 25 years.

Massimo Sepielli graduated with a degree in Nuclear Engineering and received a post-doc in “Safety of Nuclear Plants and Radiation Protection.” He has been working for the Italian Energy Research Agency (ENEA) as a Senior Researcher and the head of ENEA’s Nuclear Division Technical Unit for Fission Technologies and Facilities and Nuclear Material Management. He’s been responsible for the operation of the two main Italian research nuclear reactors, TRIGA and TAPIRO, and their activities in engineering, nuclear physics, and medical applications. He is currently a nuclear expert consultant of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for dual use goods export control. He is also a Member of the Board of Civiltà dell’Amore Committee.

Nikola Jovanovic is an Italian diplomat serving at the Permanent Mission to the United Nations, following security in Europe and Asia and disarmament files. Nikola entered the Italian Diplomatic Service in 2006. In Rome he has got a variety of positions in the Press Service, the Cabinet of the Minister and the Directorate General for Migration Policies. Between 2010 and 2018 he served in Beijing and Moscow.

Nikolas Katsimpras has been a lecturer at Columbia University's Negotiation and Conflict Resolution program since 2014. He is an independent conflict analysis/ strategy consultant focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean, MENA, and the Arabian Gulf. Katsimpras is a former Senior Fellow at the Hellenic American Leadership Council and taught at the Dispute Resolution program at CUNY, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He is a former Atlantic Council Millennium Fellow. A veteran officer of the Hellenic Navy, with extensive international experience, Katsimpras has also been awarded by the International Institute for Humanitarian Law and received the Dynamical Systems Fellowship to conduct research on the peace negotiations in Burma.

Olivia Hoppe-Spink is entering the final year of her undergraduate degree at Princeton University, and is currently interning with the Sant’Egidio Foundation for Peace and Dialogue (SFPD). At Princeton, she is majoring in English with a minor in Spanish, and is interested in international and linguistic studies, particularly with regards to refugee policy. She has previously interned with refugee resettlement organizations in her home city of Buffalo, NY, and abroad in Lisbon, Portugal.

Tetsushi Ogata is the Managing Director of the Soka Institute for Global Solutions - SIGS, where he leads the Nuclear Abolition Project and the Sustainability Project. He is also the Visiting Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at Soka University of America. He was Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies, University of California, Berkeley; instructor, School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University; and Director, Genocide Prevention Program, George Mason University. His research interests and publications are in the areas of atrocity prevention, peace studies, conflict resolution, dealing with past memories and narratives. He holds a BA in Liberal Arts with an International Studies Concentration, SUA; MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University; and a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University. 

Thomas Cochran Dr. Thomas B. Cochran was a senior scientist and director of the Nuclear Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). He and Academician Evgeny P. Velikhov led two US-USSR nuclear weapons verification projects: the Nuclear Test Ban Verification Project, to demonstrate the feasibility of utilizing seismic monitoring to verify a low-threshold test ban, and the Black Sea Experiment, to examine the utility of passive radiation detectors for verifying limits on sea-launched cruise missiles. Dr. Cochran received his Ph.D. in Physics from Vanderbilt University in 1967. He received the American Physical Society Szilard Award and the Federation of American Scientists Public Service Award. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and the AAAS. 

Vittorio Canuto has been Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics , NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), with affiliations with Columbia School of Engineering and the Climate School.