Speakers

 

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi assumed office as the Agency’s 6th DG on 3/12/19. In 9/23, IAEA's 67th General Conference approved by acclamation his re-appointment to serve a second four-year term of office.

Mr Grossi is a diplomat with almost 40 years of experience in non-proliferation and disarmament. In 2013, he was appointed Ambassador of Argentina to Austria and Argentine Representative to the IAEA and other VBOs.

Before assuming office as IAEA’s DG, he was president-designate of the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and from 2014-2016 served as president of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. In 2015, he presided over the Diplomatic Conference of the Convention of Nuclear Safety, securing unanimous approval for the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety, a milestone in international efforts following the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear accident.

From 2010-2013, he served as IAEA Assistant DG for Policy and Chief of Cabinet, having previously held senior positions in the Argentinian Foreign Service, incl as Political Affairs DG from 2007-2009.

Mr Grossi was Chief of Cabinet at OPCW in The Hague from 2002 to 2007. Prior, he served in the Argentinian Foreign Ministry, incl as Head of Embassy in Belgium and Luxemburg from 1998-2002, and as Argentine Representative to NATO from 1998-2001. He joined Argentinian Foreign Ministry in 1985.

Mr Grossi is an Int'l Gender Champion, promoting gender balance in nuclear.

He holds a PhD in International Relations, international History and Politics from University of Geneva, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, from which he also received his Master’s degree. He began his academic journey at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina and at the Diplomatic Academy of Argentina.

He has received several awards including Brazil’s Order of Naval Merit; National Medal on the occasion of 30th Anniversary of Independence of Kazakhstan; Grand Decoration of Honour in Gold with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria, the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic and Gran Cruz de la Orden de San Carlos of Colombia.

His honorary degrees and academic distinctions include the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina’s International Chair for Sustainable Development, Common Good and Peace; an honorary doctorate in law from the University of Buenos Aires; an honorary degree in Nuclear Engineering from Polytechnic University of Milan; and an honorary doctorate in Global Studies from Busan University of Foreign Studies.