Volume 2.02 | May 2020
Alumni Newsletter - May 2020
We hope this newsletter finds all of you healthy and safe. While we have unfortunately postponed our 25th Anniversary Celebration, we would like to invite all of you to tune into our virtual Class of 2019-2020 Closing Ceremony on May 13 at 3 p.m. ET. Our fellows will share highlights from their year of service in NNSA offices across the enterprise as well as the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. Please RSVP to ngfp@pnnl.gov by May 8 if you would like to attend!

Until such time we can convene in person to honor this program’s long-standing history, we still want to hear from you! Share your photos and testimonials with ngfp@pnnl.gov and stay tuned for more information.
News & Events
Outreach and Communication. As this pandemic finds us all in new situations, if you have an opportunity to share with current or former fellows, we invite you to post on our NGFP alumni group or share with us via e-mail to include in future newsletters. Job opportunities, virtual training, professional development—the NGFP alumni network is your gateway to 500+ national security professionals. 
Looking Ahead to 2020 and 2021 . As our Class of 2019 departs on their post-fellowship journey, we will soon be welcoming aboard the Class of 2020 in June. Our class size continues to grow with this class featuring 54 fellows spanning the NNSA enterprise, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and Department of State.

Concurrently, our recruitment team has hit the remote road, reaching out virtually to university partners nationwide to connect with students about the Class of 2021. The application is open now at pnnl.gov/projects/ngfp . If you have university contacts or outreach opportunities to share, please let us know so that we can expand our university networks.
Terry to Retire. After a decade with NGFP, Terry Conklin will be retiring May 28. From administration to project coordination to recruiting to alumni relations, Terry has been a staple to our program since 2010. She was the first face to greet so many of you at the Pasco airport at orientation and she has provided hands-on help to hundreds of fellows throughout their journey. Please join us in thanking Terry for her years of service to this program. We wish her the best in her next venture. 
Alumni Highlights
Advancing Global Security. In the Class of 2008 annual report, Dr. Clark Cully hoped to “ use his background to advance the field of global security”—and that he has! Dr. Cully currently serves as Senior Advisor to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Chief Information Officer (CIO). He is responsible for advising on emerging technology, driving innovation, and implementing DoD's Digital Modernization Strategy. 

"The NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program launched my continued career in public service by first introducing me to the wide-ranging opportunities for technical experts across the national security community. It provided a solid foundation on emerging security challenges, cutting-edge technology development, and interagency collaboration,” said Dr. Cully.

Prior to joining DoD, Dr. Cully was an advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, where he helped write the National Defense Strategy, the DoD Cyber Strategy, the DoD 5G Strategy, and DoD Cyber Posture Review. He has led various teams supporting innovation, nuclear weapons policy, and command and control modernization. Dr. Cully also worked for the Director of Defense Research & Engineering, the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, NATO HQ Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Cully holds a Ph.D. in high-energy physics from the University of Michigan for research conducted at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory.

During his fellowship, Dr. Cully served the NA-22 Nonproliferation Research & Development. “I enjoyed working alongside diverse and talented fellows from across the nation, receiving personal mentorship from senior NNSA executives, and building a rapidly growing network of professional contacts. I was also fortunate to learn fundamental skills in program management that have benefited me throughout my career. I highly recommend this excellent opportunity for any young professionals interested in national security that are seeking to learn, to serve, and to be challenged. I owe them a debt of gratitude,” said Dr. Cully. 
Committed to Fellowship. Merit Schumaker was awarded a fellowship with the American Political Science Association for Representative Bill Foster (IL-11) at th e U.S. House of Representatives. The American Political Science Association (APSA) Congressional Fellowship Program is a highly selective, nonpartisan program devoted to expanding knowledge and awareness of Congress.

“This APSA Congressional Fellowship gave me the unique opportunity to peak behind the curtain of Congress: I interacted with various Senators and Representatives, learned how the Science, Space, and Technology committee holds hearings and mark ups for bills, and experienced a different set of issues outside of my normal subject matter expertise, such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Patent Law, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, environmental issues, and STEM education advocacy,” said Merit. “It can be easy to lose your touch with the American public while in the Beltway, but this opportunity allowed me to interact with constituents in the 11 th district of Illinois outside of Chicago. I wrote and introduced legislation that highlighted positive contributions from constituents in the district and potentially provide opportunities to not only those in the district, but also the rest of the U.S.”

During his fellowship in the Class of 2015, Merit served in NA-123 Office of Technology Maturation, where he stayed on after his fellowship as a general engineer and will return to after APSA.

“As a fellow coming from the Executive Branch, I often didn’t understand nor appreciate the authorities granted to Congress in Article 1 of the Constitution, such as the ‘Power-of-the-Purse’ and providing oversight for the federal agencies. It is one thing to witness it in the Executive Branch but another to actually be a part of it in the Legislative Branch,” Merit said. “Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, I made friends and created networks, that I know will always be there for me to reach out to and leverage as I continue my career at the U.S. Department of Energy.”
Contact Information
Where have you been all these years?
What have you been up to in your post-fellowship career? How did NGFP impact your professional trajectory? Have you taken on a new and exciting opportunity? We want to hear from you! Send us your latest career highlight and we will share it in a future newsletter! ngfp@pnnl.gov .

NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory 
1100 Dexter Ave N, Suite 400
Seattle, WA 98109 USA