August 26, 2025
The James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), founded in 1989 in Monterey, California, and the largest nongovernmental organization in the United States devoted exclusively to research and training on nonproliferation issues, announces a new office location on the Middlebury College campus. The dedicated building on the Vermont campus marks the next step in the nearly two decade-long expansion of CNS’ collaboration with the Middlebury undergraduate community. The center also has offices in Monterey; Washington, D.C.; and Vienna, Austria.
For a center that celebrated 35 years in 2024, working under the greater Middlebury umbrella has enabled unique research and training opportunities for undergraduates. Since 2006, CNS undergraduate fellowship and internship programs have provided training and mentoring to 69 Middlebury undergraduate students. The CNS Vermont office at 46 South Street will provide a new hub for outreach to and mentoring of Middlebury College students, including paid research assistantship positions. During the 2024-25 academic year, 16 undergraduates worked as CNS RAs. They have been engaged in research projects that apply new tools and technologies such as satellite imagery, 3D modelling, and open-source data analytics.
“For decades, my colleagues in CNS and I have been fortunate to play a leading role training the next generation of nonproliferation specialists in the United States and abroad,” said CNS Founder and Director Dr. William Potter. “We have seen in the past how effective Middlebury students can be as research assistants and collaborators, and we welcome this opportunity to build a more direct partnership.”
The office will also support teaching and research collaboration with Middlebury faculty. CNS experts have been teaching interdisciplinary college winter term courses for well over a decade and have hosted college faculty at the CNS offices in D.C. and Monterey. CNS experts have also given lectures at the Rohatyn Center and collaborated on research projects, publications, and workshops with faculty from departments such as biology, physics, computer science, and film and media culture.
Middlebury’s chief academic officer, Executive Vice President and Provost Michelle McCauley, is enthusiastic about the potential outcomes.
“For nearly two decades we have explored ways to share the world-renowned talents and resources of CNS with our undergraduate students and faculty. As an institution with a global programmatic footprint, we decided that giving CNS a home in Vermont was a crucial ‘expansion’ that will fortify the Center and allow strategic and serendipitous collaborations to emerge with our exceptional undergraduate students and faculty.”
