Celebrating Ten Years of the Paul Olum Grant Fund

 Celebrating ten years of the Paul Olum Grant Fund

A family dedicated to research and reducing nuclear weapons

Ken Olum made his first gift to Ploughshares in 1987 in honor of his parents Paul and Vivian Olum, longtime advocates for peace and nuclear arms control. Global stockpiles were beginning to decline from the height of the Cold War, and he wanted to support building a world in which nuclear weapons would never be used again. Later his sister Rabbi Joyce Olum Galaski joined him in supporting Ploughshares. As their relationship with Ploughshares deepened, so too did their desire to honor Paul Olum’s legacy after he passed away in 2001.

In 1943, Paul – a 24 year-old graduate student of theoretical physics and mathematics at Princeton – received an invitation from head of the Manhattan Project, J. Robert Oppenheimer, to “render a maximum contribution to the war effort.” He accepted the invitation, but during his time on the Manhattan Project, Paul’s social conscience questioned the implications of the Project and the atomic bomb itself. Following his work at Los Alamos, Paul and his wife, Vivian, became lifelong advocates for world peace and nuclear arms control.

In advance of the 40th anniversary commemorating the opening of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Paul and Vivian drafted a petition calling for an end to the nuclear arms race and a mutually agreed-upon reduction of nuclear arms.

“My wife and I talked about it. We found it hard to go back to a reunion of old friends to ‘celebrate’ the building of the bomb that then led to the hydrogen bomb and to where we are today.”

Although Paul wasn’t allowed to officially announce the petition from the podium, it was personally handed around at the event and garnered 70 signatories. One sentence in particular captured the depth of their feelings:

“We are appalled at the present level of the nuclear armaments of the nations of the world, and we are profoundly frightened for the future of humanity.”

In 2015, Ken and Joyce established the Paul Olum Grant Fund at Ploughshares to honor Paul and Vivian’s pursuit of peace and to support the critical work of scientists and technical experts in nuclear arms control and policy efforts, especially those working to move the national laboratories away from nuclear weapons research.

Over the past decade, the Paul Olum Grant Fund has supported 12 accomplished experts, including emerging scholars and advocates, with grants awarded to seven men and five women. Their research and analysis have reached policymakers, the media, and the broader public, influencing critical debates about nuclear weapons. Notably, two recipients leveraged the grant’s support and recognition to launch successful careers in government.

Some of the projects were very prescient. The inaugural recipient, Jim Doyle, researched and proposed alternative policies and postures for how to sustain a smaller US nuclear arsenal, challenging the impending modernization and expansion efforts getting underway in 2015. Matt Korda, Bill Hartung, and Emma Claire Foley each examined different aspects of Sentinel – a new land-based missile being developed by the Pentagon to replace Minuteman III ICBMs – even before it had that name. Additionally, Phil Coyle, and Jon Wolfsthal examined and critiqued nuclear modernization efforts by comparing the size of nuclear arsenal needed with the cost of the triad replacement. Other projects supported research in response to rapidly changing conditions – like Melissa Hanham’s and Laura Grego’s research on North Korea’s missile capabilities and the limitations of US missile defense. And most recently, the last three Olum grants have supported research related to China’s nuclear expansion, given its relevance for US nuclear policy.

Since that first gift in 1987, Ken and Joyce have given more than $1 million to Ploughshares to advance a world in which nuclear weapons can never be used again. The Paul Olum Grant Fund in particular has supported experts who have conducted critical research and advocacy on pressing nuclear weapons issues. Their reports and findings have informed policy makers and the media with groundbreaking facts and analysis at key moments of global tension and domestic policymaking.

In reflection of his family’s legacy and impact, Ken Olum said, “The danger of nuclear war is always with us: billions of people could die in the next half hour. So we must always work to reduce the risk.”

Before she passed in 2021, Joyce said, “An all-out nuclear war would be the genocide of genocides…there isn’t anything more important than stopping that threat.”

We are incredibly grateful for the dedication and profound commitment of the Olum Family.

Paul Olum Grant Recipients 2015 – 2024

• Jim Doyle – to conduct early research and analysis on options for sustaining a US nuclear arsenal of no more than 1,000 total deployed nuclear weapons.
• Phil Coyle, Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation – to conduct analysis of key US nuclear weapons modernization plans including the associated costs and rationale for the triad, missile defense and related nuclear strategies.
• Jon Wolfsthal – to conduct research and analysis on US nuclear weapons plans and policies related to de-alerting, deferring the ICBM, and the overall US approach to modernization.
• Laura Grego, Union of Concerned Scientists – to support research and advocacy on the limitations of missile defense as a solution to the North Korean missile program.
• Melissa Hanham, One Earth Future – to support open-source research and media engagement related to North Korean missile capabilities.
• Abigail Stowe-Thurston, Council for a Livable World – to fund a 1-year No First Use Coordinator position to advance the nuclear policy community’s aim of ending presidential sole authority.
• Matt Korda, Federation of American Scientists – to investigate the rationale behind ICBM modernization and conduct outreach to policymakers and the media regarding the findings.
• Emma Claire Foley, Global Zero – to research the economic aspects of the GBSD program and conduct outreach to policymakers and the media regarding the findings.
• Bill Hartung, Center for International Policy – to analyze the political and corporate forces supporting ICBM modernization and conduct outreach to policymakers and the media regarding the findings.
• David Santoro, Pacific Forum International – to research Chinese approaches to arms control and the development of a strategy to constructively address China’s nuclear expansion.
• Fiona Cunningham, University of Pennsylvania – to research reasons for the Chinese nuclear expansion, publish related analysis, and engage with the media.
• Tong Zhao, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace – to research a potential Chinese shift to a launch-under-attack posture, as well as related dialogues and policymaker engagement.