A Conversation with Director Emeritus Michael M. May, on the occasion of his 90th Birthday

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• published: 18 Mar 2016
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The Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) sponsored this talk at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory with Director Emeritus Michael M. May on the occasion of his 90th Birthday, Feb. 16, 2016. In the talk, May engages in a broad conversation about changes in the security environment, elements of continuity and change in U.S. nuclear policy, and their implications for the laboratory. The conversation touches on topics of continuing interest to May, ranging from the nuclear weapons policies of the United States and other countries, the prospects for nuclear terrorism and what can be done to mitigate risk, and energy security policy. LLNL's Ron Lehman led the conversation, kicking it off with a few questions of his own before taking questions from the audience. Michael M. May is Director Emeritus of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), having served in that role from 1965 to 1971. He is also Professor Emeritus (Research) in the Stanford University School of Engineering and a senior fellow with the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. During his long career at LLNL, he was a nuclear weapons designer in the 1950s; Laboratory Director from 1965-1971; Associate Director at Large from 1972-1989; a technical adviser to the Threshold Test Ban Treaty negotiating team; and a member of the U.S. delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. He also served as head of the LLNL Center for Technical Studies on Security, Energy and Arms Control, which subsequently evolved into the CGSR. In the early 1980s he also led the first formal strategic planning effort in the Lab’s history, which helped set long-range programmatic directions and defined criteria for evaluating new projects. He remains active at both LLNL and Stanford and an inspiration to all who know him for his clarity of mind and keen insights.