Cornell's Judith Reppy and Francesco Calogero, director-general of Pugwash, at the Dec. 10 ban quet honoring recipients of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway.
By Jill Goetz
The associate director of Cornell 's Peace Studies Program was in Norway last month for the presentation of the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize, which went to London scientist Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, the organization over which Rotblat presides.
Judith Reppy attended the Nobel ceremonies in Oslo City Hall on Dec. 10 as a co-chair of the U.S. Pugwash Committee and member of the organization's international governing body. Pugwash was founded 38 years ago in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, to work toward elimination of nuclear weapons.
Joining Reppy at the ceremonies -- which included a banquet and choral performance -- were Harvard University's Steve Miller, fellow co-chair of Pugwash's U.S. committee; John Holdren, chair of its executive council; and Richard Garwin, a long-standing Pugwash member and A.D. White professor-at-large at Cornell.
"It was a very happy occasion," Reppy said of the event. "People were thrilled that Pugwash had been honored in this important way and glad to celebrate it with close friends. The Peace Prize is the only one awarded by the Norwegian branch of the Nobel Institute, so the gathering was smaller than the one in Stockholm and, from all reports, more fun. There was a certain amount of pomp -- the king and queen
attended the official ceremonies and the concert, and there was literally a red carpet for them to walk on -- but the atmosphere was generally friendly and informal."
Besides her post with the Peace Studies Program -- where she also has served as director, a rotating position -- Reppy
is associate professor in Cornell's Department of Science and Technology Studies. A specialist in issues relating to military spending and the economy, she received a Ph.D. in economics from Cornell in 1972 and has been affiliated with the Peace Studies Program since 1973.
Reppy joined Pugwash in the early 1980s and has partici pated in its annual meetings as well as special topical meetings, such as one in 1985 on the Strategic Defense Initiative and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. She has contributed background papers for Pugwash and currently is editing a book for the organization on the conversion of military research and development.
Other Cornellians who have participated in Pugwash include Hans A. Bethe, the John Wendell Anderson Profes sor of Physics Emeritus; Kurt Gottfried, professor of phys ics; Franklin A. Long, professor of chemistry emeritus; and Lawrence Scheinman, professor of government.
Current international and civil conflicts notwithstand ing, Reppy is optimistic about the future.
"I think prospects for nuclear disarmament are generally better than at any time since 1945, but that does not mean that it will be easy," she said. "Personally speaking, Pugwash has made me much more aware of the different perspectives of people around the world. It is an excellent corrective to the U.S.-centered discourse on security that we get so much of in our media."