Bonnie Jenkins

Bonnie Jenkins (born in Queens, New York) is an expert on arms control and nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction and formerly served as the U.S. Department of State's Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation in the Obama Administration.[1] She was nominated on January 16, 2021 to serve as Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

Bonnie Jenkins
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
Nominee
Assuming office TBD
President	Joe Biden
Leader	Antony Blinken
Succeeding	C.S. Eliot Kang (acting)
Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs
In office July 13, 2009 – January 19, 2017
President	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Position established
Personal details
Born	New York City, New York, U.S.
Education	Amherst College (BA) Albany Law School (JD) State University of New York, Albany (MPA) Georgetown University (LLM) University of Virginia (PhD)

Career

Jenkins at the Halifax International Security Forum 2017

Legal Government Career

Jenkins entered government as a Presidential Management Fellow serving in varying capacities in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and later the Office of Management and Budget. After completion of her fellowship Jenkins served as a legal advisor for the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency to U.S. ambassadors and delegations negotiating arms control and nonproliferation treaties for almost a decade. After the Agency disbanded, Jenkins served as General Counsel to the U.S. commission to assess the organization of the federal government to combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and as a consultant to the 2000 National Commission on Terrorism.

Jenkins served as counsel on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States, more commonly known as the "9/11 Commission".[2] She was the lead Commission staff member on counter-terrorism policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and on U.S. military plans targeting al Qaeda prior to 9/11.[3]

Academic career

Jenkins earned a BA from Amherst College, a MPA from the State University of New York at Albany, a JD from Albany Law School and an LL.M. in international and comparative law from the Georgetown University Law Center.[4]

In the fall of 2000, Jenkins began her PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia. During her studies, Jenkins served as a summer research fellow at the RAND Corporation's national security division focusing on weapons of mass destruction. Additionally, she was a pre-doctoral fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. During her years at Belfer, she served as an advisor at Harvard Law School's Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising. She completed her studies in 2005 and served as the program officer for U.S. foreign and security policy at the Ford Foundation.[5] Her grant-making responsibilities sought to strengthen public engagement in U.S. foreign and security policy debate and formulation. She promoted support for multiculturalism, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and the international rule of law. She has been an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School and co-led arms control and nonproliferation simulated negotiations at Stanford University's Center for International Center and Security Cooperation.

Military career

Jenkins began her military career in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps in the Air Force Reserves. Later she transferred to the U.S. Naval Reserves, serving over twenty years including in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. She received numerous awards in her time as an officer in the Naval Reserve, including the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and the Navy Pistol Marksman Ribbon.[3]

Diplomatic career

Jenkins was selected as the U.S. Department of State's Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation in the Obama Administration with the rank of ambassador.[1] She was also the U.S. representative to the G7 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (WMD) and chaired the Global Partnership in 2012. She was the Department of State lead on the Nuclear Security Summit, and coordinated the Department of State's activities related to the effort to secure vulnerable nuclear materials. Jenkins formerly coordinated the Department of State's Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) programs and helped to ensure a coordinated approach when promoting these programs internationally. Jenkins engaged in outreach efforts and regularly briefed United States Combatant Commands about WMD programs in their area of responsibility, worked closely with relevant international organizations and multilateral initiatives, and with nongovernmental organizations engaged in CTR-related activities. She was a legal adviser on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, among others. She has also served as U.S. legal adviser on relevant treaty implementing bodies, such as the CTBT Organization (CTBTO), and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).[3]

Jenkins is also engaged in the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA), which is an international effort with over 50 countries to reduce infections disease threats such as Ebola and Zika. Launched in February 2014, Jenkins has worked closely with governments to help ensure they recognize that GHSA is a multi-sectoral effort requiring the engagement of all relevant stakeholder to prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. Jenkins leads an international effort to engage non-governmental stakeholders in the GHSA and she has also developed a GHSA Next Generation network.

Jenkins has dedicated significant attention to the engagement of Africa in the threat of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons and working closely with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), has developed a program, Threat Reduction in Africa (TRIA), to help ensure that U.S. programs and activities in CBRN security are well coordinated and as accurately as possible meet the needs of countries where those programs are engaged.

Jenkins served as the Leadership Liaison for the Department of State's Veterans-at-State Affinity Group. She also served on the Department of State's Diversity Governance Board.

Post Government Career

In September 2017, Jenkins founded the non-profit Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) to elevate disenfranchised voices in foreign policy.[6]

In November 2020, Jenkins was named a volunteer member of the Joe Biden presidential transition Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the United States Department of State.[7]

Personal life

Jenkins is an alumna of A Better Chance, a non-profit which assists gifted young people of color attend highly-ranked secondary schools, gaining attendance to The Spence School in New York City for high school.[3][8]

References

1. "Bonnie D. Jenkins Ph.D." Council of American Ambassadors. Retrieved April 27, 2014.
2. "Lawyering from SCIPs to Think Tanks with Bonnie Jenkins". American Bar Association. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
3. "Biography". US Department of State. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
4. "Reporting for Duty". Amherst College. Retrieved September 14, 2020.
5. Jenkins, Bonnie (2006). "Combating Nuclear Terrorism: Addressing Nonstate Actor Motivations". The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 607: 33–42. doi:10.1177/0002716206290450. JSTOR 25097835. S2CID 145473954. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
6. "Leadership". WCAPS. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
7. "Agency Review Teams". President-Elect Joe Biden. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
8. Bonnie Jenkins. "Bonnie Jenkins - LinkedIn". linkedin.com. Retrieved November 2, 2018.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN