Holgate, Laura S. H., 1965-

<p>Laura S. H. Holgate (1965–)<br>
Non-career appointee<br>
State of Residence: Virginia</p>

<p><b><i>Concurrent Appointments</i></b><br>
Representative of the U.S.A. to the Vienna Office of the United Nations (Vienna)<br>
Appointed: June 27, 2016<br>
Presentation of Credentials: July 18, 2016<br>
Termination of Mission: January 18, 2017<br>
Also accredited as Representative of the U.S.A. to the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna).</p>

<p>Representative of the U.S.A. to the International Atomic Energy Agency (Vienna)<br>
Appointed: June 27, 2016<br>
Presentation of Credentials: July 13, 2016<br>
Termination of Mission: January 18, 2017<br>
Also accredited as Representative of the U.S.A. to the Vienna Office of the United Nations (Vienna).</p>

<p>Ambassador Laura S.H. Holgate served as U.S. Representative to the Vienna Office of the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency from July 11, 2016 to January 20, 2017. The United States Mission to International Organizations in Vienna works with seven major organizations of the United Nations system based in Vienna: the International Atomic Energy Agency; the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; the Preparatory Commission of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization; the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs; the Wassenaar Arrangement; the UN Commission on International Trade Law; and the UN Industrial Development Organization. In this role, Ambassador Holgate advanced President Barack Obama’s commitment to design and implement global approaches to reduce global threats and seize global opportunities in the areas of nuclear nonproliferation, nuclear security, verification of the Iran Deal, nuclear testing, counterterrorism, anti-corruption, drug policy, export control, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group. She also promoted gender balance in the staff and programming of the Vienna-based international organizations.</p>

<p>Ambassador Holgate was previously the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Weapons of Mass Destruction Terrorism and Threat Reduction on the National Security Council. In this role, she oversaw and coordinated the development of national policies and programs to reduce global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons; detect, identify, secure and eliminate nuclear materials; prevent malicious use of biotechnology; and secure the civilian nuclear fuel cycle. She was also the U.S. Sherpa to the Nuclear Security Summits and co-led the effort to advance the President’s Global Health Security Agenda.</p>

<p>From 2001 to 2009, Ambassador Holgate was the Vice President for Russia/New Independent States Programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative. Prior to that, Ambassador Holgate directed the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Fissile Materials Disposition from 1998 to 2001, and was Special Coordinator for Cooperative Threat Reduction at the Department for Defense from 1995 through 1998, where she provided policy oversight of the “Nunn-Lugar” Cooperative Threat Reduction program.</p>

<p>Ambassador Holgate received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in politics from Princeton University and a Master of Science Degree in political science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and spent two years on the research staff at Harvard University’s Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government. She is a past President of Women in International Security and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She and her husband live in Arlington, Virginia.</p>

<p>Laura S. H. Holgate was the United States of America Ambassador to the United Nations from 2016 to 2017. While she was NSC Senior Director for WMD Terrorism and Threat Reduction, she and Gary Samore first implemented Gift basket diplomacy.</p>

<p>Holgate was educated at Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology resulting in a master's degree in political science before she went to work at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University.</p>

<p>The United States first implemented Gift basket diplomacy in the Nuclear Security Summit process between the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit and 2012 Nuclear Security Summit. National Security Council (NSC) Director for Nuclear Threat Reduction Shawn Gallagher is credited with conceiving and first proposing Gift basket diplomacy while Holgate who was then the NSC Senior Director for WMD Terrorism and Threat Reduction worked with the White House WMD Czar Gary Samore to first implement the policy.</p>

<p>In 2016 she was made the United States Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna. Importantantly she was also America's representative at the International Atomic Energy Agency and the other significant UN offices in Vienna. During 2016 she was given a Nunn-Lugar Trailblazer Award for reducing the risk of nuclear war. The other recipients were Dr. Gloria Duffy, Dr. Susan Koch and Ms. Jane Wales. She served until January 2017.</p>

<p>In November 2018 she introduced the ideas of International Gender Champions into nuclear policy.</p>

In 2020 she was vice president for Materials Management at the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative.</p>