Ambassador Linton F. Brooks

Distinguished Research Fellow

Ambassador Brooks is an independent consultant on national security issues, a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a member of both the National Academy of Sciences Committee on International Security and Arms Control and the State Department International Security Advisory Board and an advisor to six of the Department of Energy national laboratories.  He served from July 2002 to January 2007 as Administrator of the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, where he was responsible for the U.S. nuclear weapons program and for the Department of Energy’s international nuclear nonproliferation programs.

Ambassador Brooks has over five decades of experience in national security, much of it associated with nuclear weapons.  His government service includes service as Deputy Administrator for Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, Assistant Director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, Chief U.S. Negotiator for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Director of Defense Programs and Arms Control on the National Security Council staff and a series of Navy and Defense Department assignments as a 30 year career naval officer.  In addition to his government service, Ambassador Brooks spent eight years as a Vice President at the Center for Naval Analyses. 

Ambassador Brooks holds degrees in Physics from Duke University and in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland and is a Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Naval War College.  He speaks and writes frequently on national security issues.