The Founders

The Institute for Applied Science was founded in 1997 to support US nonproliferation and post-Cold War commercialization and economic development efforts in the newly independent states of Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union. The American founders provided a high-level combination of expertise in Government & Diplomacy, banking and commercial & economic development.

The Honorable Wiliam Curran:

Founding US Director for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Nominated by President George Bush. Former Chairman First Chicago Investment Bank Limited. Curran served as a member of the council and chairman of the European working party for FIMBRA (Financial Intermediaries, Managers and Brokers Regulatory Association) and a special adviser to the Economic and Social Committee of the European Communities in London, England. Mr. Curran graduated from Yale University and the University of Southern California. He was born in New York, NY. and served in the U.S. Marine Corps, before going into banking.

Dr. Jack Caravelli:

Assistant Deputy Administrator and Director National Nuclear Security Administration, Office of International Material Protection and Cooperation (MPC&A), United States Department of Energy.

Prior to assuming that position he served on the White House National Security Council staff as Director for Nonproliferation Programs, representing the White House in a series of high level, bilateral negotiations with senior Russian officials on proliferation issues. Previously with the Central Intelligence Agency, serving in various managerial, staff and analytic assignments. Also Visiting Professor at the UK Defense Academy and guest lecturer at Oxford University where he sat as a member of the Board of Advisors for the Pluscarden Program on Intelligence and Terrorism at St. Antony’s. His undergraduate and graduate degrees are from Georgetown University .

Dr. Hugh Casey:

Senior Consultant to Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico; Associate Director at the Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG.gov), International Field Office, London, UK; Senior Technical Advisor to the Institute for Applied Science (IAS). Casey held key management positions with the technical staff at Los Alamos including a key role in developing the US Department of Energy’s Initiative in Proliferation Prevention (IPP) program. Also served as Chairman of the DOE Laboratories coordinating body (ILAB) for IPP, visiting many of the former Soviet Defense Institutes including several nuclear sites in the closed cities. Extensive technical background in metallurgy, advanced materials and manufacturing technology. For more on Hugh Casey’s work on IPP see Los Alamos Science #24.

Dr. Phil Petersen:

Founding Executive Director of the Institute for Applied Science. Previously served as Senior Consultant to the President of the United States Industry Coalition for the US Department of Energy’s Initiatives for Proliferation Prevention Program. Prior career: Research Analyst for the Library of Congress, United States Army officer – Foreign Armies instructor in the Command and Staff Department of the Army Security Agency Training Center, intelligence analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, and a policy analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and at the National Defense University. Conducted a three-year interview project for The Potomac Foundation on Security Policy in the Post-Soviet Republics, visiting all fifteen of the former Soviet republics, fifteen of the regions of the Russian Federation, and interviewed over 400 senior officials. Authored over 80 publications on international security issues, and has collaborated on investigative reports on the subject of nuclear materials smuggling with Time, Newsweek, “60 Minutes” of CBS, and Channel One Network.

Betsy Summers:

General Counsel. Cornell University Law School, Ithaca, NY; Juris Doctor & BA, and Queen’s College, Oxford University. An experienced commercial code lawyer and editor of multiple legal publications on the commercial code and theory of law with her father, noted Cornell law professor Bob Summers.

Formerly, Associate Director, IRIS/University of Maryland Research Corporation, College Park, MD IRIS is a non-profit organization affiliated with the University of Maryland.  IRIS works with governments, private sector groups and donors to provide technical assistance and policy analyses to improve laws, rules, and procedures in support of competitive markets and democracy in developing and transition economies.  Chief of Party, Legal, Regulatory and Bureaucratic Reform in Moldova and Romania. Managed and administered USAID funded projects based in Chisinau and Bucharest focused on business environment reform from the legal and regulatory perspective with emphasis on small and medium sized enterprises.  Developed counterpart relationships with the Prime Minister’s team and the inter-ministerial task force working on business environment issues as well as business associations and non-governmental organizations.  Responsible for completion of survey of regulatory compliance costs for firms and written analysis of results, regulatory procedures and bureaucracy, the “Red-Tape Analysis.” Also, Attorney, NIS Market Environment Contract, a USAID funded project.  Analyzed and contributed to development of commercial legislation of the Newly Independent States and Central and Eastern Europe; conducted and shared review of legal reform activities with IRIS field offices throughout the NIS. Attended legal reform conferences in Poland and the Kyrgyz Republic, presented reports.  Assisted with program management and technical assistance for projects in Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, The Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Ukraine and Russia. Prepared and submitted to proposals for continued legal reform work in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine to conduct commercial law implementation and regulatory reform programs for legal and business sectors.

John Wood:

Founding Chairman Institute for Applied Science. Wood served in the US State Department in the Office of Arms Control and International Security. Wood formerly held private sector positions as Chairman of leading Cambridge economic development consultancy, Segal Quince Wicksteed Ltd., and as a Director of Oxford Analytica (providing news analysis) and Ludgate (a London-based investment company managing environmental and tech investments and funds including the Ludgate 181 Fund) . Other positions held include: Member of Senior Advisory Board and Honorary Fellow, Center for Strategic Studies; Chairman of Advisory Council, Institute of United States Studies at London University; Chairman Emeritus, US Republicans Abroad.

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Dr. Duncan Wood:

Dr. Wood has extensive public and private sector expertise in R&D, science & technology commercialization and public diplomacy. He has worked as Director for a variety of US TSWG.gov projects and has also worked as the director for multiple NATO Advanced Research Workshops. He previously served in the US House of Representatives as a Legislative Director and Professional Staff member for the Committee on Energy & Commerce. Dr. Wood also served with Jack Caravelli on the Board of Advisors of the US Department of Energy’s international nuclear Material Protection, Control and Accounting Program alongside former head of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral William Crowe. In the private sector, he has worked as a consultant for AT&T, served on the government affairs committee of the Consumer Electronics Association, co-founded Penguinradio – a pioneering linux-based streaming media company, and held directorships of several other companies. He has a Doctorate and Masters from Oxford University and a BA from Cornell University. He is a member of the Pilgrims and a former Shenandoah County Pie-Eating Champion.