Alexandra Bell is the president and CEO of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. A noted policy expert and former diplomat, she oversees the Bulletin‘s publishing programs, management of the Doomsday Clock, and a growing set of activities around nuclear risk, climate change, and disruptive technologies.

Before joining the Bulletin, Alexandra Bell served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Affairs in the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability (ADS) at the U.S. Department of State. There she managed the Offices of Strategic Stability and Deterrence and Multilateral and Nuclear Affairs. From 2017 to 2021, Bell was the Senior Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation and the Council for a Livable World. Previously, Bell served as a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security and as an Advisor in ADS, then named the Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance. Before joining the Department of State in 2010, she worked on nuclear policy issues at the Ploughshares Fund and the Center for American Progress.

Bell has been quoted or published in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Guardian, the Raleigh News and Observer, The Seattle Times, Bloomberg, Politico, Vox, The Daily Beast, Time Magazine, Bustle, Huffington Post, Sinclair, Inkstick, and more. She has also provided commentary for CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, NPR, and the BBC. Bell received a Master’s degree in International Affairs from the New School and a Bachelor’s degree in Peace, War and Defense from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 2001-2003, she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Saint Elizabeth, Jamaica. Bell is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Daniel Holz is a professor at the University of Chicago in the Departments of Physics, Astronomy & Astrophysics, the Enrico Fermi Institute, and the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics.

Holz is a member of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) collaboration; his research focuses on black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology. He has received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Quantrell Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, and as a member of LIGO received the Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics and the Gruber Prize. He was selected as a Kavli Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences and is an APS Fellow.

Holz is Chair of the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and in this role helps set the time of the Doomsday Clock. Holz is also founding director of the UChicago Existential Risk Laboratory (XLab), an interdisciplinary effort focused on understanding and mitigating existential risks, including nuclear war, climate change, and AI-fueled disinformation.

This event is cosponsored by the University of Chicago Law School's International Programs and International Law Society.

Lunch will be provided. Please submit dietary requests eight business days prior to the program to Aican Nguyen at aican@uchicago.edu. Although we will try to accommodate dietary needs, it is not guaranteed.