Disarmament Expert Paul Walker ’68 to Speak at Holy Cross on Abolition of Weapons of Mass Destruction

Holy Cross alumnus Paul Walker ’68, an internationally acclaimed disarmament expert and activist, will give a lecture on the “Abolition of Weapons of Mass Destruction: Building a Secure and Sustainable World,” at the College of the Holy Cross, Monday, Sept. 28 at 4:30 p.m. in the Rehm Library. His talk is free and open to the public.

Walker is the international director of environmental security and sustainability for Green Cross International, where he works for the safe and environmentally-sound demilitarization, nonproliferation, and remediation of nuclear, chemical, biological, and conventional weapons stockpiles. He has helped to permanently eliminate over 65,000 tons of chemical weapons and millions of munitions in eight countries to date.

In his talk at Holy Cross, Walker will review the build-up of weapons of mass destruction — nuclear, chemical, and biological — and the decades of national and international efforts to abolish them. 2015 marks the 100th commemoration of the first major use of chemical weapons in warfare — by Germany during World War I; the 40th anniversary of the 1975 Biological Weapons Convention; the 70th anniversary of the first use of nuclear weapons in New Mexico and Japan in 1945; and adoption of the Iran Nuclear Deal with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia, Germany and the European Union to stop nuclear weapons proliferation. Walker will address environmental and public health considerations and the urgent need to establish global, enforceable norms for peaceful resolution of conflict.

Walker has worked, spoken, and published widely in the related areas of international security, threat reduction, non-proliferation, weapons demilitarization, and environmental security for over three decades. He credits his Jesuit education and Vietnam-era military service for inspiring his lifelong commitment to nonviolence. In 2013, he was named a Right Livelihood Award Laureate, an honor widely known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize” for his work to rid the world of chemical weapons. Holy Cross presented him with its highest alumni award, the Sanctae Crucis, in 2007. He is a former professional staff member of and senior advisor to the Armed Services Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Walker’s lecture is presented by the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at Holy Cross. Learn more about McFarland Center events and watch lectures online at holycross.edu/mcfarlandcenter.

About the Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J. Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture:

Established in 2001 and housed in Smith Hall, the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture provides resources for faculty and course development, sponsors conferences and college-wide teaching events, hosts visiting fellows, and coordinates a number of campus lecture series. Rooted in the College's commitment to invite conversation about basic human questions, the Center welcomes persons of all faiths and seeks to foster dialogue that acknowledges and respects differences, providing a forum for intellectual exchange that is interreligious, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and international in scope.  The Center also brings members of the Holy Cross community into conversation with the Greater Worcester community, the academic community, and the wider world to examine the role of faith and inquiry in higher education and in the larger culture.