CNAS Technology and National Security Program Announces Three New Adjunct Fellows

Washington, March 22, 2024 — The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is pleased to welcome three new adjunct fellows to its Technology and National Security program.   

“I am delighted to welcome Dr. Keegan McBride as a new Adjunct Fellow to the Technology and National Security program,” said Vivek Chilukuri, senior fellow and director of the Technology and National Security program at CNAS. “I am also pleased to share that Tim Fist and Sam Howell are transitioning to new roles as an Adjunct Senior Fellow and Adjunct Associate Fellow, respectively. These three distinguished fellows will contribute greatly to our program’s ongoing research on AI governance, quantum information sciences, technology competitiveness, and more.”

Joining as an Adjunct Fellow is Dr. Keegan McBride. Dr. McBride is a lecturer in AI, Government, and Policy and the course director of the Social Science of the Internet MSc program at the Oxford Internet Institute. At Oxford, Dr. McBride conducts research on how new and emerging disruptive technologies are transforming our understanding of government and power. He has a particular interest in the digitalization of the public sector, global digital infrastructure, digital innovation, and U.S.-China digital competition. As an author, Dr. McBride frequently highlights how global geopolitics are being reshaped by emerging digital technologies and the infrastructure that lies beneath them. His insights are frequently requested by high-level decision-makers, business leaders, and leading media outlets.

Tim Fist is transitioning to an Adjunct Senior Fellow role after serving as a full-time Fellow on the Technology and National Security program over the past year. Fist has previously worked as the head of strategy and governance at Fathom Radiant, an artificial intelligence hardware company, and held several senior machine learning engineering positions. Fist was also the head of product at Eliiza, a machine learning consultancy. As an Adjunct Senior Fellow, Fist will continue his research on AI governance, with a focus on securing the AI computing supply chain.

Sam Howell is also transitioning to a new role as an Adjunct Associate Fellow after serving previously as a full-time Research Associate with CNAS. In this new role, Howell will build on her past research focusing on quantum information science, semiconductors, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) workforce issues. Howell also serves as a military operations and security force assistance analyst on the Afghanistan War Commission.

For more information or press inquiries, contact Alexa Whaley at [email protected].