Upcoming Speakers
Michelle Lenihan
June 8, 2026
Topic: The Future of US Engagement in Africa
Michelle Lenihan is the Deputy Commissioner of the Maine Department of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management. She previously served in various national security roles in the Pentagon, the White House, and the U.S. Senate – to include acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, Chief of Staff for Homeland Defense and Global Security, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, and National Security Council Director for African Affairs. Additionally, she served on the Department of Defense’s Reserve Forces Policy Board.
Outside of government, Michelle advised leading corporates and investors, associate produced for ABC News, led the creation of the first dialysis center in Guyana, and taught in Johannesburg. She currently serves as the Board Chair for the Hearts of Pine Foundation and is a member of the Sports Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) AMERICA Advisory Board.
Michelle earned a Master in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Pennsylvania. Her journalism honors include a George F. Peabody Award, an Emmy Award, and an Alfred I. DuPont Silver Baton Award. While at Harvard, she received the Dean’s Excellence Award for Innovation. At the Pentagon, she earned the Defense Medal for Meritorious Civilian Service, the Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service, and the Joint Civilian Service Achievement Award. She is a former term member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dan Poneman
July 20, 2026
Topic: Prospects for Further Nuclear Weapons Proliferation
Daniel B. Poneman is a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). His work is focused on nuclear security issues.
From 2015 through 2023, Poneman served as president and chief executive officer of Centrus Energy Corp., of Bethesda, Maryland, a trusted supplier of nuclear fuel and services for the nuclear power industry. Prior to joining Centrus, Poneman served as U.S. deputy secretary of energy and as chief operating officer of the department from 2009 to 2014. Between April and May 2013, Poneman served as acting secretary of energy. He was an adjunct senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy at CFR from October 2008 through June 2009.
Before assuming his responsibilities as deputy secretary, Poneman served as a principal of the Scowcroft Group for eight years. From 1993 through 1996, he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for nonproliferation and export controls at the National Security Council. His responsibilities there included the development and implementation of U.S. policy in peaceful nuclear cooperation, missile technology, space-launch activities, sanctions determinations, chemical and biological arms control efforts, and conventional arms transfer policy.
Poneman first joined the Department of Energy in 1989 as a White House fellow. In 1990, he joined the National Security Council staff as director of defense policy and arms control. Between tours of government service, Poneman practiced law for nine years in Washington, DC, as an associate at Covington & Burling and as a partner at Hogan & Hartson.
Poneman has published widely on national security issues. He is the author of Nuclear Power in the Developing World, Argentina: Democracy on Trial, and Double Jeopardy: Combating Nuclear Terror and Climate Change. His third book, Going Critical: The First North Korean Nuclear Crisis (coauthored with Joel Wit and Robert Gallucci), received the 2005 Douglas Dillon Award for Distinguished Writing on American Diplomacy.
Poneman received AB and JD degrees with honors from Harvard University and an MLitt in politics from Oxford University.