Mr Lars van Dassen has taken up his new position as WINS’ Executive Director as of 1 January 2021.
The Chairman of the World Institute for Nuclear Security, Mr William H Tobey, announced the appointment Mr van Dassen in October.
“Following an exhaustive international recruitment process, I am extremely pleased to announce that Mr Lars van Dassen has accepted our offer to lead the World Institute for Nuclear Security as its new Executive Director. The board is delighted that someone of Lars’s stature, experience, energy and expertise will lead WINS. He will certainly build wide, strong and deep relationships to advance nuclear security,” Mr Tobey said.
“Having spent many decades in the nuclear security field, I can honestly say that being offered the position as Executive Director of WINS is a dream come true,” Mr van Dassen said. “I have known WINS’ work for many years. I am impressed by the ingenuity of its methods and its action-oriented approaches to breaking down barriers leading to improved nuclear security. I applaud its efforts to ensure better and equal opportunities for both women and men in the field.”
Mr van Dassen has extensive experience in nuclear security and is strongly committed to the role of WINS in strengthening and sustaining nuclear security globally. He has worked in the nuclear non-proliferation and security field for more than 30 years.
His academic background is in international relations and political science. From 1993 till 2001, he was a scholar at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt and the Department for Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University. In 2001, he joined the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority (SSM) and became responsible for the implementation of international projects primarily in the field of nuclear security in Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Georgia, Moldova and the Baltic States. Since 2008, he has served as Acting Department Head, Section Head and Director for the Office for External Relations at SSM. He was sous-sherpa for Sweden at the Nuclear Security Summits held between 2010 and 2016.
“It will be a tall order for me to follow in Roger Howsley’s footsteps. However, I look forward to all the things I shall learn from my new colleagues and to leading WINS into its next decade,” Mr van Dassen added.
