Peter D. Zimmerman (June 15, 1941,

Portsmouth, Virginia Portsmouth is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. It lies across the Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia, Norfolk. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...

– August 27, 2021

Washington, D. C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

) was an American

nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space *Nuclear ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, arms control expert, and former chief scientist of the

Senate Foreign Relations Committee The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for authorizing and overseeing foreign a ...

. At his death, he was emeritus professor of science and security at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

. He retired from the college in August 2008 and was named professor emeritus on 1 September of the same year.

Biography

Peter D. Zimmerman was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on 15 June 1941. He graduated from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

in 1963 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree. He earned a Filosofie Licentiat degree at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in 1967 and a Ph.D. at

in 1969. All degrees are in experimental nuclear and elementary particle physics. Zimmerman was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1988. Zimmerman worked several times at the

Arms Control and Disarmament Agency The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) was an independent agency of the United States government that existed from 1961 to 1999. Its mission was to strengthen United States national security by "formulating, advocating, negotiating, ...

until the agency was folded into

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...

, and worked closely with other physicists there such as David S. Wollan. He was Science Advisor for ACDA at the time it was merged into the Department of State in March 1999. He then became Science Adviser for Arms Control in the

. After the election of George W. Bush as president, Zimmerman left the State Department and then served as the chief scientist of the

from August 2001 until January 2003 and as Democratic chief scientist until March 2004. In 2004, Zimmerman became professor of science and security in the department of war studies at

Awards and honors

*2004 Joseph A. Burton Forum Award recipient

References

* *Book: Hubris, Isikoff (Michael) and Corn (David), 2006, pp. 133–134; Crown Publishers

External links

Bio: Kings College Website, currently dysfunctionalVideo: Zimmerman on the urgent need for Europe to curb means available to terrorists globally.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Peter D 1941 births 2021 deaths American nuclear physicists Stanford University alumni 20th-century American physicists Academics of King's College London Arms control people People from Portsmouth, Virginia