User:Albert Carnesale

Albert Carnesale

Albert Carnesale (born July 2, 1936) is an American academic. He is a professor of public policy and of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California (UCLA). He is a former Chancellor of UCLA, Provost of Harvard University, and Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. His research, teaching, and public service focus on foreign policy and national security issues having substantial scientific and technological dimensions, with particular emphasis on nuclear energy, nuclear weapons, and the relationship between them.

Education and Career

Early Years
A native of the Bronx, New York, Carnesale was graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1953, went on to the Cooper Union to earn a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering in 1957. He then worked as an engineer at The Martin Company (now Lockheed Martin) from 1957 to 1962, during which time he received an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Drexel University. In 1962, he joined the faculty of North Carolina State University (NCSU) and, in 1966, completed his Ph.D. in nuclear engineering there.

SALT
From 1969 to 1972, Carnesale served in the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) with the Soviet Union. These negotiations led to a treaty limiting anti-ballistic missiles and an interim agreement constraining long-range missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons. He returned to NCSU and, two years later, move to Harvard University.

Harvard
In the course of his 23-year tenure at Harvard, Carnesale steadily ascended the ranks. He began as Associate Director of what is now the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, and his subsequent positions included Lucius N. Littauer Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Academic Dean and then Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and Provost of the University.

UCLA
In 1997, Carnesale was appointed as Chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). During his nine-year tenure in that office, he completed the most ambitious fundraising campaign in the history of public higher education; transformed UCLA from a commuter school to a residential university; and launched the Broad Stem Cell Research Institute, California NanoSystems Institute, Fiat Lux Freshman Seminars, Institute for Society and Genetics, and Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Major physical additions included Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center; UCLA Santa Monica Hospital; new buildings for the arts, engineering, health sciences, physics, and athletics; and extensive renovations of several of the original buildings on campus. In 2006, he stepped down from his administrative post and resumed teaching and research as a professor of public policy and of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Recent Public Service
Since 2006, Carnesale has chaired National Academies Committees on U.S. Conventional Prompt Global Strike Capabilities, Nuclear Forensics, America’s Climate Choices, and NASA’s Strategic Direction, and was a member of President Obama’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. He currently serves as a member of the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board.

Honors and Awards
Carnesale is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Pacific Council on International Policy; and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a recipient of the Harvard Medal, and has been awarded honorary degrees by Drexel University, Harvard University, New Jersey Institute of Technology, North Carolina State University, and Pardee RAND Graduate School.

Personal
Carnesale and his wife, Robin Gerber Carnesale, live in Los Angeles. Their family includes four married children and six grandchildren.