SSP News
November 12, 2025
SSP held its annual Ruina Dinner on November 12 at the Royal Sonesta in Cambridge. The dinner featured the Honorable Lisa Gordon-Hagerty whose career spans over 40 years in the US-nuclear enterprise, including Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the US Department of Energy and Administrator of the National Security Administration.
This year’s guest speaker was the Honorable Lisa Gordon-Hagerty. Ms. Gordon-Hagerty’s experience spans the United States' nuclear enterprise with her roles as a health physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, the Director for Combating Terrorism at the National Security Council National Security Council, the Under Secretary for Nuclear Security of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Vipin Narang, Director of the Center for Nuclear Security Policy Director, hosted Ms. Gordon-Hagerty on stage for her remarks and a discussion featuring audience questions. Her comments focused on lessons learned from over 40 years of public service at the intersection of science and national security. She delivered a sobering assessment of the United States’ level of preparedness for taking on the new and unprecedented challenge posed by two nuclear peers in Russia and China, reflecting on the future and a shifting nuclear landscape. Alongside her judgment of the capabilities and infrastructure the US will need to meet this challenge, Gordon-Hagerty emphasized the importance of interpersonal relationships as the bedrock of the national security community. She concluded her remarks by calling on students and young professionals at SSP to continue to work towards a more secure future.