Samuel Augustus Nunn (born September 8, 1938) is co-chairman and chief executive officer of the NTI (Nuclear Threat Initiative), a charitable organization working to reduce the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. He served as a United States Senator from Georgia for 24 years (1972-1996) as a member of the Democratic Party. Some experts and pundits initially considered Nunn to be a possible running mate for presidential candidate John Kerry in the 2004 election.

He was born in Perry, Georgia, and already had a family connection with politics, being a grandnephew of the Congressman Carl Vinson.

Raised in the small town of Perry in middle Georgia, he attended Georgia Tech, Emory University and Emory Law School , where he graduated with honors in 1962. After active duty service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he served six years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve . He first entered politics as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968.

During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Senator Nunn served as chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations . He also served on the Intelligence and Small Business Committees. His legislative achievements include the landmark Department of Defense Reorganization Act, drafted with the late Senator Barry Goldwater, and the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which provides assistance to Russia and the former Soviet republics for securing and destroying their excess nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

In addition to his work with NTI, Senator Nunn has continued his service in the public policy arena as a distinguished professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech and as chairman of the board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Nunn also is a retired partner in the law firm of King & Spalding.

He is a board member of the following publicly-held corporations: ChevronTexaco Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, Dell Computer Corporation, General Electric Company, Internet Security Systems, Inc., and Scientific-Atlanta , Inc.

He is married to the former Colleen O'Brien and has two children, Michelle and Brian, and one grandchild, Vinson Nunn Martin.

Quote

"Reducing the risk posed by weapons of mass destruction is not the agenda of one political party. It is a deeply held desire by leaders of vision and courage of every political stripe. We hope that others who are concerned about these issues will work with us on the large area of common ground that exists to find ways to reduce risks associated with these weapons."

External links

• Sam Nunn, NTI Board of Directors
• New Georgia Encyclopedia