CFR Welcomes Daniel B. Poneman Back as Senior Fellow

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is pleased to welcome Daniel B. Poneman back as a senior fellow. He was previously adjunct senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy from October 2008 through June 2009. At CFR, Poneman will work on nuclear security and energy issues. He will also contribute to the activities of the new, cross-cutting initiative on climate change.

From 2015 through 2023, Poneman served as president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., of Bethesda, Maryland, a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry.  
Prior to joining Centrus, Poneman served as U.S. deputy secretary of energy and as chief operating officer of the department from 2009 to 2014. Between April and May 2013, Poneman served as acting secretary of energy. 

“I am delighted to welcome Dan back to the Council. Dan is a distinguished public servant with deep expertise on nuclear and energy issues, and he will contribute greatly to our important work on economic security, arms control, nuclear energy, and climate change,” said CFR President Michael Froman.  

Before assuming his responsibilities as deputy secretary, Poneman served as a principal of the Scowcroft Group for eight years. From 1993 through 1996, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls at the National Security Council. His responsibilities there included the development and implementation of U.S. policy in peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy. 

Poneman first joined the Department of Energy in 1989 as a White House fellow. In 1990, he joined the National Security Council staff as director of defense policy and arms control. 

Between tours of government service, Poneman practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC, as an associate at Covington & Burling and as a partner at Hogan & Hartson. 

Currently, Poneman serves as co-chair of the Commission on Nuclear Energy and Climate Security and the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition. 

Poneman has published widely on national security issues. He is the author of  Nuclear Power in the Developing World,  Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy. 

Poneman received AB and JD degrees with honors from Harvard University and an MLitt in politics from Oxford University.