Rachel Bronson

Rachel Bronson is the Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists where she oversees the publishing programs, the management of the Doomsday Clock, and a growing set of activities around nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, climate change and emerging technologies. She also serves as an adjunct professor for global energy at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

Before joining the Bulletin, she served for eight years at The Chicago Council on Global Affairs in a number of capacities including as: senior fellow, global energy; vice president of studies; and vice president of programs and studies. In her capacity as vice president of studies she helped place the Council on the University of Pennsylvania’s 2013 global think tank ranking–including #11 “think tank to watch” and #5 “best policy study/report by a think tank.”

Prior to moving to Chicago, Bronson served as senior fellow and director of Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Earlier positions include senior fellow for international security affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and adjunct professor at Columbia University. Bronson's book,Thicker than Oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Oxford University Press, 2006), has been translated into Japanese and was published in paperback in June 2008.

Her writings have appeared in many publications including Foreign Policy, Foreign Affairs,The National Interest, The New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Chicago Tribune. She has appeared as a commentator on numerous radio and television outlets, including National Public Radio, CNN, al Jazerra, the Yomiuri Shimbun, PBS NewsHour, The Charlie Rose Show, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Bronson has served as a consultant to NBC News and the Center for Naval Analyses. She testified before the Congressional Anti-Terrorist Finance Task Force, Congress’ Joint Economic Committee, and the 9/11 Commission.

In 2012, Bronson was named by Today’s Chicago Woman magazine as one of 100 Women to Watch. She was named by Crain’s Chicago Business as one of 20 Women to Watch in 2008. In 2003, Bronson was named a Carnegie Corporation Scholar. She earned a BA in history at the University of Pennsylvania and a MA and PhD in political science from Columbia University in 1997.