Faculty & Staff
Margaret E. Kosal
Assistant Professor
Program Co-Director - Emerging Technology and Security
Director - Biological and Chemical Nonproliferation and Counterterrorism
Before joining the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Institute of Technology, Margaret E. Kosal was the Science and Technology Advisor on Chemical and Biological Defense and Chemical Demilitarization within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). She also served as the first liaison to the Biological and Chemical Technologies Directorate at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA).
Dr. Kosal received her doctoral degree in Chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), emphasizing nano-structured bioinorganic materials, and has lectured nationally and internationally on both technical and international security subjects. Before completing her doctorate, Dr. Kosal and three colleagues founded a sensor company, where she led research on biological, chemical, and explosive detection and spearheaded efforts toward the real-world applications of the technology. Previously, Dr. Kosal has held positions at Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), Northwestern University's Feinburg School of Medicine, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies’ (MIIS) Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), as well as teaching at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). She has been recognized across the U.S. federal government for her leadership, specifically for efforts to coordinate across the DoD as part of the interagency Nonproliferation and Arms Control Technology Working Group, as OSD representative to the interagency group charged with leading the National Nanotechnology Initiative; and in the NATO Nanotechnology for Defense Working Group. Her awards include the OSD Award for Excellence, 2007 UIUC Alumni Association Recent Alumni Award, the President's Volunteer Service Award, AAAS Defense Policy Fellow, and the Society of Porphyrins and Phthalocyanines Dissertation Research Award.
Dr. Kosal is currently working on a book, Nanotechnology for Chemical and Biological Defense, exploring scenarios and strategies toward the benefits and potential proliferation threats of nanotechnology for national security.