On March 14th, 2023, International Student/Young Pugwash hosted a talk and Q&A with Charles Weiss, who served as the World Bank’s first Science and Technology Advisor. Professor Weiss is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University, where he directed the program on Science, Technology and International Affairs (STIA). He holds a PhD in Chemical Physics and Biochemistry from Harvard University.

Professor Weiss discussed the impact that Pugwash has had on his life and career, his experience introducing a broad view of science and technology to the World Bank of the 1970s, and some of the pressing global challenges that require technical expertise, today.

Professor Weiss is author of the recent book “The Survival Nexus: Science, Technology, and World Affairs.”

The program was moderated by Talia Weiss, a physics PhD student at Yale University (no relation to Charles Weiss). The event was co-organized by Talia and Nicolas Ayala Arboleda, a research assistant and M.Sc. student in Politics and Technology at the Technical University of Munich.

Please see Professor Weiss’s talking points here: