On 16 June 2015, the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) hosted a special evening event to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS). International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano delivered the keynote address to the gathering of approximately ninety guests. Ms. Laura Rockwood, who recently assumed the post of VCDNP executive director, acted as master of ceremonies for the event.
Of the scores of diplomats and international civil servants who took part in the Vienna celebration, many were CNS alumni, having spent time at the Monterey campus either as graduate students, visiting fellows, and/or former professors and staff. Many of these alumni joined Ambassador Amano—a 2002 alumnus himself—in delivering remarks of appreciation for the Center, including Elena Sokova, Jean duPreez, and Jenni Rissanen, as well as US Ambassador Laura Kennedy and Austrian Ambassador Alexander Kmentt. As a representative of the Austrian government— VCDNP's co-sponsor—Ambassador Kmentt stated that it is not only his government but also the broader "diplomatic community engaged in our crucial disarmament and non-proliferation work" that relies on the work of CNS, which "is based on the principle of undiminished academic expertise and excellence and the maintenance of strategic vision."
