• Professor of Practice, Nuclear Engineering
  • Distinguished Faculty Fellow, Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives
  • Member, National Academy of Engineering
Dr. Seigfried Hecker wearing navy blue suit jacket with light blue shirt and maroon plaid tie.

Educational Background

  • Ph.D., Metallurgy, Case Western Reserve University – 1968
  • M.S., Metallurgy, Case Western Reserve University -1967
  • B.S., Metallurgy, Case Western Reserve University - 1965

Research Interests

    • Nuclear security and strategic stability
    • Nuclear nonproliferation and arms control
    • Plutonium science
    • Nuclear energy
    • Countering nuclear terrorism

Certifications & Memberships

  • Member, National Academy of Engineering
  • Fellow, American Physical Society
  • Fellow, Minerals Metalurgy and Materials Society
  • Fellow, American Society for Metals
  • Honorary Member, American Ceramics Society
  • Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Foreign Member, Indian Institute of Metals
  • Member, Council of Foreign Relations
  • Advisor to the Board of Directors of the Nuclear Threat Initiative
  • Member, Board of the Pacific Century Institute

Awards & Honors

  • Presidential Enrico Fermi Award, 2009
  • American Association of Engineering Societies National Engineering Award, 2018
  • American Nuclear Society Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal, 2017 (with Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar)
  • TMS-AIME Honorary Membership Award, 2016
  • Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness Annual Edward Teller Lecture, 2016
  • ASM International Honorary Membership Award, 2015
  • Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service, 2014

Selected Publications

  • Siegfried S. Hecker, “Nuclear North Korea: A Path Forward in View of Facts, Myths and Uncertainties,” Chapter 9, Understanding Kim Jong Un's North Korea: Regime Dynamics, Negotiation, and Engagement, Lexington Books, Robert Carlin and Chung-in Moon, ed., September 2022.
  • John Mecklin, Siegfried Hecker: Putin has destroyed the world nuclear order. How should the democracies respond? Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, April 21, 2022, https://thebulletin.org/2022/04/siegfried-hecker-putin-has-destroyed-the-world-nuclear-order-how-should-the-democracies-respond/
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, “The North Korean Nuclear Question Revisited: Facts, Myths and Uncertainties, Global Asia, Revealing Change in Kim Jong Un’s North Korea, Vol 16, No. 3, 3 September 2021. https://globalasia.org/v16no3/cover/the-north-Korean-nuclear-question-revisited-facts-myths-and-uncertainties_siegfried-s-hecker
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, Robert L. Carlin and Elliot A. Serbin, “The More We Wait, The Worse It Will Get,” 38North, September 4, 2019. https://www.38north.org/2019/09/sheckerrcarlineserbin090419/
  • Siegfried Hecker, Robert Carlin, “We Are Teetering on the Edge of a Hinge Point with North Korea. Washington’s appetite for a deal with Pyongyang seems to be diminishing,” The WorldPost, Berggruen Institute, August 5, 2019. https://www.berggruen.org/the-worldpost/articles/we-are-teetering-on-the-edge-of-a-hinge-point-with-north-Korea/
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, Alla A. Kassianova, “The future of global nuclear power through the eyes of young Russian and American professionals,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, June 20, 2019. https://thebulletin.org/2019/06/the-future-of-global-nuclear-power-through-the-eyes-of-young-Russian-and-American-professionals/
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, Robert L. Carlin and Elliot A. Serbin, “North Korea’s Denuclearization: Status and prospects,” Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, February 11, 2019, https://fsi-live.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/hecker_carlin-serbin_denuc2019fin.pdf
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, Robert L. Carlin, and Elliot A. Serbin, A Comprehensive History of North Korea’s Nuclear Program: 2018 Update, The Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University, February 11, 2019. https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/content/dprk-history-2018-update
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, “George H.W. Bush worked toward a soft nuclear landing for the dissolving Soviet Union,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, December 4, 2018. https://thebulletin.org/2018/12/george-h-w-bush-worked-toward-a-soft-nuclear-landing-for-the-dissolving-soviet-union/
  • Siegfried Hecker, Elliot Serbin, and Robert Carlin, “Total Denuclearization Is an Unattainable Goal. Here’s How to Reduce the North Korean Threat,” Foreign Policy, June 25, 2018. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/25/total-denuclearization-is-an-unattainable-goal-heres-how-to-reduce-the-north-Korean-threat/
  • Siegfried S. Hecker, “What We Really Know About North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons,” Foreign Affairs, December 4, 2017. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/north-Korea/2017-12-04/what-we-really-know-about-north-koreas-nuclear-weapons
  • Siegfried S. Hecker and Paul C. White, “The US-Russian teamwork that kept nuclear weapons safe,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 13, 2017. http://thebulletin.org/us-Russian-teamwork-kept-nuclear-weapons-safe10947