The Atkinson Center at Excelsior University
Science for Global Policy
The Atkinson Center at Excelsior University builds on the ongoing success and international impact of the Institute on Science for Global Policy (ISGP).
Where Difficult Questions Meet Open Dialogue
For more than 17 years, the ISGP provided opportunities for stakeholders, decision-makers, and subject matter experts in science, technology, and public policy to critically debate and aggressively examine their respective positions and priorities. The ISGP goal was to facilitate mutual understanding of diverse perspectives and priorities via open communication concerning some of the most challenging issues now facing global society: food safety and sustainable agriculture, national security and defense priorities, emerging and persistent infectious diseases, public health practices (e.g., antimicrobial resistance), public communication and acceptance of scientific expertise, and climate impact on national, private sector, and individual security writ large. These were just some of the topics critically examined during ISGP conferences, seminars, debates, and other events.
Turning Dialogue into Collective Action
Structured on the debate/caucus format pioneered by the ISGP, Atkinson Center programs focus on identifying specific areas of consensus, evidence-based options, and real-world, actionable next steps meriting collective support from participants. Invitation-only events are conducted in not-for-attribution (Chatham House Rule) environments that foster candid, productive discussions concerning many of the most significant challenges of our time.
Rational Options Through Credible Information
The Atkinson Center is not an advocacy organization. It builds on the internationally respected ISGP reputation for not expressing, advocating, or promoting any specific policy position. Instead, the Center organizes conferences, events, and educational opportunities that facilitate the communication of credible scientific information and rational technological options to those who make, influence, and/or apply national and international scientific, technological, and policy solutions in both the public and the private sectors.
Inclusive Voices, Independent Outcomes
Financially supported by domestic, national, and international governmental, private sector, and educational organizations, and by philanthropic foundations and individuals, the Atkinson Center facilitates the incorporation of diverse perspectives, opinions, and priorities in the formulation and implementation of effective real-world decisions.
The Atkinson Center functions independently of any specific priority held by its funders. Outcomes from Atkinson Center programs also remain consistent with its commitment not to lobby on any issue.
Current Projects
GEPID
Global Emerging and Persistent Infectious Diseases (GEPID) — Europe Program
The global impacts of infectious diseases on individual lives, public health systems, economic prosperity, and social stability have resulted in critical and often catastrophic outcomes. Emerging infectious diseases, potentially at epidemic and/or pandemic levels, are anticipated in the foreseeable future to result in increasingly significant public health emergencies worldwide. Successfully combating infectious diseases requires comprehensive, collaborative efforts to strengthen policies, allocate resources, and implement protocols that support biomedical communities and governmental institutions during periods of waning public confidence in credible science.
The first Global Emerging and Persistent Infectious Diseases (GEPID) convening was held at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, in Washington, D.C., from March 11 through 13, 2024. The focus of the program was debates and caucuses centered on scientific and technological options; existing and emerging parameters shaping infectious disease policies; and global response, equity, and communication.
The GEPID program continued at NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Belgium, on October 14 and 15, 2024. Debates and caucuses focused on biomedical and technological capabilities, armed forces policies, and actionable decisions.
The continuation of the GEPID program to venues in Europe will feature convenings that accurately reflect the perspectives and priorities in European communities required to formulate and implement meaningful policies and decisions. Convenings of the GEPID – Europe program are planned for Stockholm, Sweden, with the Karolinska Institute in 2025–2026, focusing on biomedical and technological advancements, and for Venice, Italy, at the Giorgio Cini Foundation in 2026, focusing on democratic institutions and public trust.
NEES
Nuclear Energy and Environmental Sustainability (NEES)
The Atkinson Center Nuclear Energy and Environmental Sustainability (NEES) program focuses on how nuclear energy can be a significant, financially viable component in the global energy production system while remaining committed to environmental sustainability. The multiyear, multivenue NEES program spans several invitation-only events, conducted under the Chatham House Rule (no attribution). Areas of focus include:
- Nuclear energy sources with respect to existing and advanced scientific research and technological developments
- Current and anticipated regulatory regimes for monitoring efficiency and safety
- Public understanding, perceptions, and confidence in current and advancing nuclear energy reactors and methodologies
- Evolving importance of combating the negative impacts of climate change
Board of Directors
Dr. George Atkinson, Chair
George Atkinson founded the Institute on Science for Global Policy (ISGP) in 2008 and serves as the executive director. He is a professor emeritus of chemistry, biochemistry, and optical science at the University of Arizona, where he served as the head of the Department of Chemistry. He was the founder of Innovative Laser Corporation, serving the semiconductor industry. Atkinson has served in various roles as a science adviser within the U.S. federal government, including as the science and technology adviser to the secretary of state (STAS) for both Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice.
Dr. Janet Bingham
Bingham is the former president of the George Mason University (GMU) Foundation and vice president of advancement and alumni relations. GMU is the largest research university in Virginia. Previously, she was president and CEO of the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Fred Downey
Downey’s career includes 24 years in the U.S. Army, including Pentagon postings as assistant to the director of net assessments at the Office of the Secretary of Defense and strategy team chief for the Strategic Plans and Policy Directorate of the Department of the Army Staff. He is a former U.S. Army strategist and longtime defense and international affairs expert on Capitol Hill. He was vice president of national security at Aerospace Industries Association.
Dr. Linda Duffy
Duffy recently retired as a U.S. federal government senior scientist administrator in the Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, at the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, where she currently serves as a postretirement special volunteer to the director. Prior to her distinguished career in the federal government, she served in a dual capacity as scientific director of the Women and Children’s Health Research Foundation and as a distinguished professor emerita with former joint appointments in the departments of pediatrics, epidemiology, and microbial pathogenesis at the University at Buffalo.
Retired Admiral Thomas Fargo
Fargo became the chairman of Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI) in May 2020. HEI is the parent company for Hawaiian Electric Company, American Savings Bank, and Pacific Current. He previously served for nine years as the chairman of Huntington Ingalls Industries, the largest military shipbuilder in the United States, and chairman of USAA until August 2021. Following a distinguished career serving in the U.S. Navy and the Department of Defense, Fargo transitioned to corporate leadership in March 2005 as president of Trex Enterprises, a privately held high-technology company. In April 2008, he became a managing director of J.F. Lehman & Company, with principal responsibilities as president and CEO of HSF Holdings/Hawaii Superferry.
Dr. Tom Fingar
Fingar is a Shorenstein APARC Fellow in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. He was the inaugural Oksenberg-Rohlen Distinguished Fellow from 2010 through 2015 and the Payne Distinguished Lecturer at Stanford in 2009. From 2005 through 2008, he served as the first deputy director of national intelligence for analysis and, concurrently, as chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Fingar served previously as assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (2000–2001 and 2004–2005), principal deputy assistant secretary (2001–2003), deputy assistant secretary for analysis (1994–2000), director of the Office of Analysis for East Asia and the Pacific (1989–1994), and chief of the China Division (1986–1989).
Dr. Claire Fraser
Fraser is the professor emerita and founding director of the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore, Maryland, where she holds joint faculty appointments in the departments of Medicine and Microbiology and Immunology. Until 2007, she was president and director of the Institute for Genomic Research, in Rockville, Maryland, and participated in the early phases of the Human Genome Project.
Dr. George Korch
Korch is currently the president of GeoBIO LLC, a consulting entity established to provide advice and expertise in biodefense, medical countermeasure development, and public health policy, and is the former director of Battelle National Biodefense Institute’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center, a government biodefense research laboratory created by the Department of Homeland Security. Before joining BNBI in December 2018, he served for several years as the science adviser to the assistant secretary of preparedness and response for the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. David Moran
Moran is president of Technology International Partnerships LLC and a former publisher of “American Scientist” and the “Chronicle of the New Researcher,” issued by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society. He has served as president of the National Technology Transfer Center; director of Industrial Advanced Development & Industrial Outreach, Advanced Technology, Office of Naval Research; program element administrator for nuclear propulsion, R&D, Naval Material Command; director, David Taylor Institute; and assistant technical director, director of research, and technology director, Naval Ship R&D Center.
Former Ambassador Tom Pickering
Pickering is vice chairman of Hills & Company, international consultants. He co-chaired a State Department-sponsored panel investigating the September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. He also served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in New York, the Russian Federation, India, Israel, El Salvador, Nigeria, and Jordan, with additional assignments in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Tom Quinlan
Quinlan has specialized expertise in rebranding traditional businesses and pivoting physical content into the digital space by leveraging digital marketing, data analytics, business intelligence, and data management solutions. He is currently the CEO and president of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company and has served as chairman and CEO of LSC Communications, executive vice president of operations and business integration at Moore Wallace, and senior vice president and treasurer of World Color Press.
Dr. Eugene Sander
Sander served as the 20th president of the University of Arizona (UA), stepping down in 2012. He was formerly the vice provost and dean of UA’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. He also served as UA executive vice president and provost, vice president for University Outreach, director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and acting director of the Cooperative Extension Service. Prior to his move to Arizona, Sander served as the deputy chancellor for biotechnology development, director of the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and head of the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics for the Texas A&M University system.
Dr. David Schejbal
Schejbal is president of Excelsior University. He previously served as vice president and chief of digital learning at Marquette University. From 2007 to 2018, he was dean of continuing education, outreach, and e-learning at the University of Wisconsin-Extension. Prior positions included associate provost at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and associate dean at Northwestern University.
Dr. Maria Velissariou
Velissariou is a Fortune 100 R&D executive with diverse global experience driving vision and strategy, innovation, and advocacy in high-impact corporate and nonprofit organizations. She served as the global corporate R&D VP and CSO for Mars. Before Mars, Velissariou held senior leadership positions including CSTO at the Institute of Food Technologists and VP global nutrition R&D and VP Quaker Foods North America R&D at PepsiCo. Additionally, she served in various roles at Kraft Foods and Dow Corning Europe.
