MacArthur Foundation - Nuclear Grantmaking Success
webCredibility Rating
4/5
High(4)High quality. Established institution or organization with editorial oversight and accountability.
Rating inherited from publication venue: MacArthur Foundation
Useful as an analogous case study for AI safety philanthropists and governance advocates; illustrates how sustained foundation funding can shape expert communities and policy around catastrophic risks, with potential lessons for AI governance grantmaking strategies.
Metadata
Importance: 35/100press releasecommentary
Summary
The MacArthur Foundation reflects on its decades-long history of funding nuclear security and nonproliferation work, detailing the strategic rationale behind its grantmaking and the measurable outcomes achieved. The piece highlights how philanthropic investment can shape policy, build expert communities, and reduce existential risks from nuclear weapons. It serves as a case study in how foundations can engage with catastrophic risk reduction.
Key Points
- •MacArthur Foundation made nuclear security a major philanthropic priority, funding policy research, advocacy, and expert networks over several decades.
- •The foundation's nuclear grantmaking aimed to reduce existential risks by supporting arms control treaties, nonproliferation efforts, and disarmament advocacy.
- •Philanthropic funding helped build and sustain expert communities and institutions that influenced government policy on nuclear weapons.
- •The piece reflects on lessons learned for long-term, high-stakes grantmaking in the existential risk space, relevant to AI safety funding strategies.
- •MacArthur eventually wound down its nuclear grantmaking, offering insights into exit strategies and sustainability of funded ecosystems.
Cited by 1 page
| Page | Type | Quality |
|---|---|---|
| MacArthur Foundation | Organization | 65.0 |
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Reflecting on the Origins and Successes of Our Nuclear Grantmaking - MacArthur Foundation
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Reflecting on the Origins and Successes of Our Nuclear Grantmaking
November 20, 2024
Perspectives
Nuclear Challenges
Kennette Benedict
Former Director, International Peace and Security Program
Former and current MacArthur Staff discuss the Foundation’s impact on the nuclear security and nonproliferation landscape.
Kennette Benedict, Director of MacArthur’s International Peace and Security program from 1991 to 2005, spoke with MacArthur’s Stephanie Platz, Managing Director of Programs, and Angela Schlater, Senior Program Officer, to reflect on MacArthur’s nuclear grantmaking. In this conversation, which we have lightly edited for clarity, they talk about how the Foundation first began supporting this area of work, its overall impact, and some of today’s challenges.
Following her time at MacArthur, Benedict served as the executive director and publisher of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists for 10 years. Today, she is a lecturer at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago.
How MacArthur Began Its Support of the Nuclear Field
Angela
It is so nice to welcome you back to MacArthur, Kennette. As an early leader of the Foundation’s International Peace and Security Program, which included our grantmaking to reduce nuclear threats, can you tell us about why and how the Foundation first chose to begin making grants in this area?
Kennette
In the early ‘80s, Jerry Wiesner, a MacArthur Board member, was very interested in reducing the risk and number of nuclear weapons. Approximately 70,000 nuclear weapons existed at the time—the great majority of them in the United States and the Soviet Union. Jerry felt we needed to look at nuclear weapons in a broader context, especially as the tensions escalated between the United States and the Soviet Union.
The first thing MacArthur pursued was efforts to strengthen and broaden the field to bring in fresh perspectives and new ideas. After the Vietnam War, many young people had decided not to go into international security because they were fed up with U.S. policy. At the time, nuclear weapons policy was focused on deterrence, so as tensions with the Soviet Union rose, President Reagan was talking about increasing our nuclear arms. With few new people entering the field, it felt like we were stuck in this singular min
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