Shawn Gallagher

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Shawn Gallagher was the National Security Council's Director for Nuclear Threat Reduction in the Obama Administration. Gallagher was a former professional baseball player in the Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Montreal Expos organizations. A nuclear engineer, Gallagher was the first ever student to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with two degrees in nuclear engineering within four years.

Contents

United States Government

Gallagher served as the NSC Director for Nuclear Threat Reduction from June 2010 to August 2012, with primary responsibility for President Obama's nuclear security agenda including the 4-year Lockdown effort and Nuclear Security Summit process. Gallagher is credited for innovating a new form of diplomacy, Gift Basket Diplomacy, that he helped implement through the Nuclear Security Summit preparatory process and that has since been exported to other multilateral fora such as climate change and nonproliferation negotiations. [1] [2] Laura Holgate who was then the NSC Senior Director for WMD Terrorism and Threat Reduction worked with the White House WMD Czar Gary Samore to first implement the policy. [3]

Gallagher's responsibilities also included domestic nuclear energy policy, where he led the process to save several hundred million dollars on nuclear decommissioning activities within the US and was integral in securing US Government and US industry aid to Japan in response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster including the immediate delivery of UAVs to Japan assess damage without risking personnel safety. [4] [5]

After his government career, Gallagher worked under government contracts as an advanced concepts engineer on cutting edge technologies for the defense industrial base. Technologies Gallagher worked included quantum sensors, advanced microelectronics, human-machine system integration, and planetary defense. [6]

Professional Baseball

Gallagher spent seven seasons in professional baseball, including a stint on the Texas Rangers' 40-man roster in 1999. [7] In 1998, Gallagher was named MVP of the Florida State League after becoming the first ever player to drive in 100 runs and score 100 runs in the same season. During his MVP season for the Port Charlotte Rangers Gallagher hit .308 and had 26 HR, 121 RBI, 18 SB, and 111 R. [8] Gallagher finished his career with exactly 100 home runs. [9]

The Texas Rangers drafted Gallagher in the 5th round of the 1995 Amateur Draft after a high school career where he rewrote the North Carolina State High School record book. [10] Gallagher tied a national record with a 51 game hitting streak and another one by hitting five home runs in one game. [11]

Softball

Gallagher was the head of the nationally-recognized Ashburn Shooting Stars youth girls softball program from 2014 to 2021, one of the largest programs in the Washington DC region. Gallagher is a vocal advocate for female sports, noting the gender inequality between baseball and softball and attempts to close the commercial gap. His public comments on the subject have focused on female athletes playing for the love of the game, knowing there are not multi-million dollar contracts to be had like there are for male athletes. [12] [13]

Education

After baseball, Gallagher attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He became the first student ever to earn an undergraduate and master degree in Nuclear Engineering within four years. [14] Upon graduation, MIT turned Gallagher's thesis into a patent on a radiation detection system capable of detecting nuclear weapons in cargo containerships. [15]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States National Security Council</span> U.S. federal executive national security and intelligence forum

The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the president of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, and composed of senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weapon of mass destruction</span> Weapon that can kill many people or cause great damage

A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a biological, chemical, radiological, nuclear, or any other weapon that can kill or significantly harm many people or cause great damage to artificial structures, natural structures, or the biosphere. The scope and usage of the term has evolved and been disputed, often signifying more politically than technically. Originally coined in reference to aerial bombing with chemical explosives during World War II, it has later come to refer to large-scale weaponry of warfare-related technologies, such as biological, chemical, radiological, or nuclear warfare.

Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When states recognize one another as sovereign states and agree to diplomatic relations, they create a bilateral relationship. States with bilateral ties will exchange diplomatic agents such as ambassadors to facilitate dialogues and cooperations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction</span> US initiative to reduce risk stemming from former USSR republics nuclear weapons

As the collapse of the Soviet Union appeared imminent, the United States and their NATO allies grew concerned of the risk of nuclear weapons held in the Soviet republics falling into enemy hands. The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program was initiated by the Nunn–Lugar Act, which was authored and cosponsored by Sens. Sam Nunn (D-GA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN). According to the CTR website, the purpose of the CTR Program was originally "to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states." As the peace dividend grew old, an alternative 2009 explanation of the program was "to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction in states of the former Soviet Union and beyond". The CTR program funds have been disbursed since 1997 by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Security Archive</span> Open government advocacy and investigative journalism nonprofit at George Washington University

The National Security Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-governmental, non-profit research and archival institution located on the campus of the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1985 to check rising government secrecy. The National Security Archive is an investigative journalism center, open government advocate, international affairs research institute, and the largest repository of declassified U.S. documents outside the federal government. The National Security Archive has spurred the declassification of more than 15 million pages of government documents by being the leading non-profit user of the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), filing a total of more than 70,000 FOIA and declassification requests in its over 35+ years of history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Defense Threat Reduction Agency</span> U.S. Combat Support Agency for countering WMD

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is both a defense agency and a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for countering weapons of mass destruction and supporting the nuclear enterprise. Its stated mission is to provide "cross-cutting solutions to enable the Department of Defense, the United States Government, and international partners to Deter strategic attack against the United States and its allies; Prevent, reduce, and counter WMD and emerging threats; and Prevail against WMD-armed adversaries in crisis and conflict." DTRA is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. The DTRA mission, organization and management, responsibilities and functions, relationships, authorities, and administration are defined in DoD Directive 5105.62, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) .

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Hanover High School</span> Public school in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Flynn Martin</span>

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Gift basket diplomacy is an approach to multilateral negotiation aimed at pushing forward progress on a particular issue without the requirement of consensus. The policy is most often seen in United Nations style diplomatic meetings where a particular group of countries wishes to take action or make a joint statement but is unable to do so without the consensus of all parties involved. Gift basket diplomacy fundamentally is collective action agreed by smaller groups of participants that goes beyond the lowest common denominator consensus that larger groups often reach in large multilateral fora. The United States first introduced Gift basket diplomacy in 2011 during the Nuclear Security Summit preparation process and more than 30 countries participated in fourteen Gift basket diplomacy statements at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul.

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References

  1. Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, , “Nuclear Security Summits - A Model for Multilateral Diplomacy”, Joan Rolfing 30 August 2017
  2. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, , “Keeping tabs on nuclear security commitments”, Michell Cann, Kelsey Davenport, Jenna Parker, 31 March 2015
  3. White House Press Briefing, , “Press Briefing with Jay Carney, Ben Rhodes, and Shawn Gallagher”, 27 March 2012
  4. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FOIA Response, , “Group BV Records”, 26 March 2011
  5. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, FOIA Response, , “FOIA/PA-2011-0118”, 26 March 2011
  6. Stories from the Center of the Universe - Episode 103, , "Stories from the Center of the Universe - Episode 103
  7. Baseball Reference: Shawn Gallagher, , “Shawn Gallagher”
  8. Baseball Reference: Shawn Gallagher, , “Shawn Gallagher”
  9. Baseball Cube: Shawn Gallagher, , “Shawn Gallagher”
  10. North Carolina High School Athletic Association, , “North Carolina High School Athletic Association Record Book”
  11. Wilmington Star News, , “Ex-New Hanover star makes big leagues – the White House”
  12. Baseball Cards Come to Life, , “Baseball Cards Come to Life!”
  13. Stories from the Center of the Universe - Episode 103, , "Stories from the Center of the Universe - Episode 103
  14. MIT Nuclear Science and Engineering Alumni New
  15. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, , “A System for the Detection of Concealed Nuclear Weapons and Fissile Material aboard Cargo Containerships”