Reuben W. Hills Conference Room
Siegfried S. Hecker
CISAC
Stanford University
Encina Hall, C220
Stanford, CA 94305-6165
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shecker@stanford.edu
Senior Fellow, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Emeritus
Research Professor, Management Science and Engineering, Emeritus
Siegfried S. Hecker is a professor emeritus (research) in the Department of Management Science and Engineering and a senior fellow emeritus at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). He was co-director of CISAC from 2007-2012. From 1986 to 1997, Dr. Hecker served as the fifth Director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Dr. Hecker is an internationally recognized expert in plutonium science, global threat reduction, and nuclear security.
Dr. Hecker’s current research interests include nuclear nonproliferation and arms control, nuclear weapons policy, nuclear security, the safe and secure expansion of nuclear energy, and plutonium science. At the end of the Cold War, he has fostered cooperation with the Russian nuclear laboratories to secure and safeguard the vast stockpile of ex-Soviet fissile materials. In June 2016, the Los Alamos Historical Society published two volumes edited by Dr. Hecker. The works, titled Doomed to Cooperate, document the history of Russian-U.S. laboratory-to-laboratory cooperation since 1992.
Dr. Hecker’s research projects at CISAC focus on cooperation with young and senior nuclear professionals in Russia and China to reduce the risks of nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism worldwide, to avoid a return to a nuclear arms race, and to promote the safe and secure global expansion of nuclear power. He also continues to assess the technical and political challenges of nuclear North Korea and the nuclear aspirations of Iran.
Dr. Hecker joined Los Alamos National Laboratory as graduate research assistant and postdoctoral fellow before returning as technical staff member following a tenure at General Motors Research. He led the laboratory's Materials Science and Technology Division and Center for Materials Science before serving as laboratory director from 1986 through 1997, and senior fellow until July 2005.
Among his professional distinctions, Dr. Hecker is a member of the National Academy of Engineering; foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; fellow of the TMS, or Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials Society; fellow of the American Society for Metals; fellow of the American Physical Society, honorary member of the American Ceramics Society; and fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
His achievements have been recognized with the Presidential Enrico Fermi Award, the 2020 Building Bridges Award from the Pacific Century Institute, the 2018 National Engineering Award from the American Association of Engineering Societies, the 2017 American Nuclear Society Eisenhower Medal, the American Physical Society’s Leo Szilard Prize, the American Nuclear Society's Seaborg Medal, the Department of Energy's E.O. Lawrence Award, the Los Alamos National Laboratory Medal, among other awards including the Alumni Association Gold Medal and the Undergraduate Distinguished Alumni Award from Case Western Reserve University, where he earned his bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in metallurgy.
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Defining success through positive development
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I gained my definition of
success through Stanford . . .
-Makoto Takeuchi, 2004-2005
Corporate Affiliates Program fellow
When Makoto Takeuchi came to the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific
Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) as a Corporate Affiliates Program fellow
during the 2004-2005 academic year, he was working as a senior manager with the
Business Development Group of Kansai Electric Power Company, located in Osaka,
Japan. Osaka, part of Japan's Kansai region, is a bustling metropolis and an
important economic and historical center of Japan. Kansai Electric Power
Company is a large energy company that utilizes a combination of energy
sources, including nuclear power, which makes up over 50 percent of its power
supply, as well as thermal (oil, coal, and liquid natural gas) and hydropower.
Takeuchi found the environment of Stanford University, including its situation
in Silicon Valley, stimulating. "I was excited by the diversity and speed of
dynamic innovation in Silicon Valley, and the people who utilize their
knowledge and skills in order to achieve their dreams," he said. Drawing from
this, he carried out a research project exploring complementary strategies for
sustainable corporate growth. He concluded that such sustainable growth comes
from a balance of internal and external resources and short- and long-term
gains, driven by innovation, integration, and interaction.
During his time at Shorenstein APARC, Takeuchi also developed his understanding
of working as a part of a team on a project. "I learned that the success of
projects requires orchestrating the talents and efforts of many people," he
said. He now applies his knowledge of teamwork to the work that he does today,
including the essential skill of communicating with colleagues from different
cultural and professional backgrounds. Being sensitive to the values of others is
crucial when it comes to collaboration, he learned.
Prior to coming to Stanford University, Takeuchi had not yet defined his own idea
of "success." He now measures success by the positive impact that he has on
society, which to him is evidenced by the "smiles on the faces of my customers,
stakeholders, and family." Takeuchi has the opportunity to effect positive
economic and energy development in his new position as a senior energy
specialist with the World Bank's East Asia Sustainable Development Department.
"When I considered how I could make the most of my skills . . . the answer was
to provide clean energy through a sophisticated power system with renewable
energy and to contribute to what people in the region really want," he explained.
In his role with the World Bank, Takeuchi is working toward increasing access
to cleaner energy and laying the foundation for sustainable growth in
developing countries, and, of course, to gain smiles in the process.
For current and future Corporate Affiliates fellows, Takeuchi imparts the
wisdom: "As soon as possible, you should discover the criteria for evaluating
your own success. Then, you should just run toward it!"
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