Jonathan B. Tucker (August 2, 1954 – July 31, 2011) was a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

chemical A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...

and

biological weapons A biological agent (also called bio-agent, biological threat agent, biological warfare agent, biological weapon, or bioweapon) is a bacterium, virus, protozoan, parasite, fungus, or toxin that can be used purposefully as a weapon in bioterrorism ...

expert.

Early life and education

Tucker was born on August 2, 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts to Deborah Tucker. Tucker earned a B.S. in biology from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

(focusing on defense and arms control study) from

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

Career

After finishing his studies Tucker worked as an arms control specialist for the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment, the U.S. Arms Control & Disarmament Agency, and the U.S. State Department. He was an editor at ''High Technology'' and ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it i ...

'' magazines and wrote about military technologies, biotechnology, and biomedical research. Tucker was a UN weapons biological inspector in

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in February 1995. From 1996, he served as founding director of the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program at the James Martin

Center for Nonproliferation Studies The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), formerly known as the Monterey Institute of International Studies, is an American graduate school of Middlebury College, a private college in Middlebury, Vermont. Established ...

of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and then served as a senior fellow in its Washington Office. He was a professional staff member for the bipartisan

Commission on the Prevention of WMD proliferation and terrorism The Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism (commonly known as the Graham/Talent WMD Commission) of the United States Congress was set up "to assess, within 180 days, any and all of the nation's acti ...

, which published World at Risk, a volume critical of US prevention strategies for post-9/11 terrorism. In 2010, Tucker spent a semester teaching and researching at the TU Darmstadt in Germany as an endowed professor of peace and security studies, and most recently was a senior fellow at the

Federation of American Scientists The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) is an American nonprofit global policy think tank with the stated intent of using science and scientific analysis to attempt to make the world more secure. FAS was founded in 1946 by scientists who wo ...

in Washington, D.C.

Death

On July 31, 2011, Tucker was found dead in his home in

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

He was 56.

Published works

;Articles * ;Books * * (editor) * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Jonathan B 1954 births 2011 deaths Yale College alumni MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences alumni People related to biological warfare Academic staff of Technische Universität Darmstadt