Sara Z. Kutchesfahani
Dr. Kutchesfahani is Director of Programs at the Ploughshares Fund. Prior to arriving at Ploughshares, Sara was the Director of the N Square DC Hub. N Square is a funders collaborative created in 2014 to introduce innovation and creative thinking into the nuclear risk reduction space. As the Director of the DC Hub, she brought together nuclear risk reduction professionals to collaborate, build community, and connect with innovators and experts from other disciplines, while also bringing nontraditional approaches and voices to the space. Activities included convening virtual monthly virtual brown bags for early career professionals, organizing professional development programs, and hosting conversations about many of the existing field-wide issues. Sara has close to 20 years of professional and academic experience in the fields of nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear security, holding research, analysis, teaching, and managerial positions at a national nuclear weapons laboratory, an NGO, a university, and at various think tanks around the world. This diverse background is a clear indication of her openness to learning new processes and approaches. She has a PhD in Political Science from University College London and is the author of Global Nuclear Order (Routledge: 2019) and Politics and the Bomb: The Role of Experts in the Creation of Cooperative Nuclear Non-Proliferation Agreements (Routledge: 2014), as well as numerous scholarly and policy articles.
Valerie Lincy
Ms. Lincy is Executive Director of the Wisconsin Project. She oversees the Project’s Risk Report database and Iran Watch website. She provides export control training as head of the Risk Report team that visits foreign countries. As the editor and principal investigator for Iran Watch, she bears the main responsibility for maintaining the site, as well as writing articles for publication, organizing and presiding at roundtables, and conducting associated research. Ms. Lincy graduated from Smith College and received an M.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University.
J. Triplett Mackintosh
Mr. Mackintosh is a retired partner of Holland & Hart. While practicing, he was ranked among top global professionals for his legal work in the area of trade sanctions and export controls. His practice included representing foreign and domestic companies with respect to compliance, as well as regulatory and criminal defense. For 20 years he was an adjunct at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where he taught courses on trade sanctions, export controls and white collar defense. He holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center and an M.A. from the Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver.
Gary Milhollin
Emeritus Professor Milhollin of the University of Wisconsin Law School is Chairman of the Board of the Wisconsin Project. He founded the organization in 1986 and served as Executive Director for twenty-five years. Professor Milhollin was an Administrative Judge, part-time, at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for more than a decade. He has been a consultant on nuclear arms proliferation to the Department of Defense, has practiced international corporate law in New York and Paris, and has taught courses on nuclear arms proliferation at the University of Wisconsin and Princeton University. Professor Milhollin received a degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center. His articles and research reports have been cited and quoted widely in the international press, and he has testified frequently before Congressional committees.
Robert S. Norris
Dr. Norris is a Senior Fellow for Nuclear Policy at the Federation of American Scientists. From 1984 to 2011 he was a Senior Research Associate with the Natural Resources Defense Council. His areas of expertise include all aspects of the nuclear weapons programs of the United States, Soviet Union/Russia, Britain, France, and China, as well as India, Pakistan, and Israel. Dr. Norris co-edited the Nuclear Weapons Databook series and has co-authored a number of books and chapters, including the SIPRI Yearbook. He has also written the award-winning biography Racing for the Bomb: General Leslie R. Groves, the Manhattan Project’s Indispensable Man (Steerforth Press, 2002). Dr. Norris holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from New York University and has taught at NYU, Miami University, and American University.
Lizbeth Rodriguez-Johnson
Ms. Rodriguez-Johnson serves as Counsel at ReedSmith LLP. She advises U.S. and international clients on U.S. export controls, trade sanctions, and anti-corruption compliance and has extensive experience conducting related internal investigations, audits, and gap assessments. Ms. Rodriguez-Johnson assists clients to develop, draft, and implement customized export compliance systems. Her practice also involves drafting technology control plans, export and trade sanctions voluntary disclosures, license applications, technical assistance agreements, commodity jurisdiction requests, classification requests, and other compliance and regulatory documents. She was previously Of Counsel at Holland & Hart LLP. Ms. Rodriguez-Johnson is a member of the American Bar Association, Colorado Bar Association, and Denver Bar Association. She holds a J.D. from the University of Denver, an M.A. from the University of Colorado, and a B.A. from the University of Puerto Rico.
Sharon Squassoni
Ms. Squassoni is Research Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. Her research, writing and policy -making has focused on reducing risks from nuclear energy and weapons for over three decades. She has held senior positions at the State Department, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency and the Congressional Research Service, as well as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Center for Strategic & International Studies. She is co-founder of the Climate Security Initiative, a U.S.-based NGO dedicated to climate change solutions that enhance international security. She also sits on the boards of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the PIR Center, and the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation.
Joe Weinstein
Mr. Weinstein has over 20 years of experience in high-growth, high-impact social change organizations in the private and nonprofit sectors. He is Senior Director and Interim COO at Georgetown University’s Business for Impact, where he focuses on strategy, partnerships, program creation, and student and alumni engagement. Previously, he was Senior Director of Operations and Planning at Signal Vine, a technology firm that improves student outcomes in college attainment and persistence, and Arabella Advisors, a consulting firm working with philanthropic donors where he led client projects on strategy and evaluation, and managed the firm’s analyst team. Mr. Weinstein worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as an Associate Policy and Program Officer, where he built partnerships with advocacy organizations in India. He also managed grants to organizations focused on health policy in Africa, India, and the U.S. He holds an MBA from Georgetown, an MS in International Affairs from Georgetown, and a BA in English from Wesleyan.
Past Directors
The Wisconsin Project is grateful for the service of past Directors, including: Ms. Jennifer Fowler, Mr. Donald Herskovitz, Mr. Frederick P. Hitz, Mr. Stephen Kahler, Mr. David Kay, Mr. John A. Lauder, Ms. Donatella Lorch, Mr. William Lowell, Mr. James Mann, Dr. Kathleen McNamara, Ms. Elizabeth S. Rosenberg, Mr. Jerry Straus (Chairman), and Dr. Richard Ullman.