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Rachel Bronson is an American political scientist. She currently serves as the Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. She is also a senior fellow for global energy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.  Dr. Bronson is the author of Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Prior to her appointment at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in February 2015, Bronson served as the Vice President of Studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the senior fellow and director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She is an expert on Middle East Policy and National Security. She has done extensive research on the changing US energy landscape and the implications for US foreign policy.

In 2008, Crain’s Chicago Business newspaper named her one of 20 Women to Watch in 2008, and Today’s Chicago Women magazine listed her as one of 100 Women to Watch in 2012.

She holds a B.A. in history from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. 

Rachel Bronson’s Timeline
1990 Received B.A. in History from the University of Pennsylvania.

1992 Received M.A. in Political Science from Columbia University.

1997 Received Ph.D. from Columbia University.

19971999 Senior Fellow for International Security Affairs at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

19992008 Senior Fellow and Director of Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

2003 Recipient of the Carnegie Corporation’s 2003 Carnegie Scholars award.

2006 Published book “Thicker than Oil: America’s Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia” (Oxford University Press, 2006).

20082015 Vice president of programs and studies and senior fellow for global energy at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

2015 Became Executive Director and Publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

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