Steven Aftergood
Steven Aftergood is a senior research analyst at the Federation of American
Scientists (FAS) specializing in national security information and intelligence
policies. He directs the FAS Project on Government Secrecy, which
works to reduce the scope of official secrecy and to promote reform of
related security practices.
He writes and edits Secrecy News, an email newsletter and blog which is read by more than 10,000 subscribers in media, government and among the general public.
In 1997, Mr. Aftergood was the plaintiff in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency which successfully led to the declassification and publication of the total intelligence budget ($26.6 billion in 1997) for the first time in fifty years. In 2006, he won a ruling against the National Reconnaissance Office requiring that agency to disclose unclassified budget records.
Mr. Aftergood is an electrical engineer by training (B.Sc., 1977) and has published research in solid state physics. He joined the FAS staff in 1989.
He has authored or co-authored papers and essays in Scientific American, Science, New Scientist, Journal of Geophysical Research, and Issues in Science and Technology, as well as Slate and the New York Times, on topics including space nuclear power, atmospheric effects of launch vehicles, and government information policy.
From 1992-1998, he served on the Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board of the National Research Council.
For his work in combating undue secrecy he received the James Madison Award from the American Library Association (2006); the Public Access to Government Information Award from the American Association of Law Libraries (2006); and the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award from the Playboy Foundation (2004).
The Federation of American Scientists, founded in 1945 by Manhattan Project scientists, is a non-profit national organization of scientists and engineers concerned with issues of science and national security policy.