VCDNP Welcomes Back Elena K. Sokova as Executive Director

The Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) is delighted to welcome back Elena K. Sokova as its Executive Director.

Elena K. Sokova is well known in the international non-proliferation and disarmament community, having worked for over 20 years at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), including as its Deputy Director in 2015–2019. As VCDNP’s founding Executive Director in 2011–2015, Ms. Sokova helped establish the Center as a major forum for dialogue among national governments, international organizations, and nongovernmental experts, as well as a world-class center for advancing education and dialogue on disarmament and non-proliferation. Ms. Sokova is highly regarded in the diplomatic and professional community in Vienna and is certain to receive a warm welcome back from her many friends and colleagues.

“I am excited to return to the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. It is a homecoming for me, and I am grateful for the opportunity to once again lead an outstanding international team of VCDNP experts in providing much-needed platform for dialogue, research, education and training for various stakeholders in Vienna, Europe, and globally,” said Ms. Sokova.

Ms. Laura Rockwood, who assumed directorship of the VCDNP in 2015, departed the VCDNP to start a new non-governmental organization -- Open Nuclear Network. The VCDNP team wishes her success in the new position and extends its heartfelt gratitude for Ms. Rockwood’s dynamic leadership during these past four years, which further reinforced the VCDNP’s reputation for first-class expertise and dialogue on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.