Faculty

R. Scott Kemp

Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering
Nuclear Security and Policy

Contact

617-324-3308

24-208

Research Interests

  • Strategic consequences of advanced conventional weapons
  • Critical infrastructure
  • Detection of clandestine nuclear activities
  • Energy policy for decarbonization

Research Interests

  • Strategic consequences of advanced conventional weapons
  • Critical infrastructure
  • Detection of clandestine nuclear activities
  • Energy policy for decarbonization
Bio

Scott Kemp is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering, and director of the MIT Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy.

Prof. Kemp’s research combines physics, politics, and history to help create more resilient societies. His work has focused primarily on weapons of mass destruction and energy. Current research includes securing vulnerabilities in U.S. critical infrastructure (electricity, gas, and water systems) and strategic ramifications of hypersonics and advanced conventional weapons.

He teaches primarily in the area of energy policy and is an academic advisor for students in the MIT Energy Studies Program. He serves on the advisory board for MIT’s International Policy Lab, and on the MIT President’s Committee for Distinguished Fellowships. Prof. Kemp received his undergraduate degree in physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. in Public and International Affairs from Princeton University.

Awards
  • Class of 1943 Professorship (2018–2021)
  • Fellow of the American Physical Society (2017)
  • Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Excellence in Teaching (2017)
  • Sloan Research Fellowship in Physics (2016)
  • Norman C. Rasmussen Career Development Chair (2015–2017)
  • NEC Corporation Award in Computation and Communication (2015)
  • Fulbright Fellow (2003)
Teaching

Social Problems of Nuclear Energy (22.04)

Applications of Nuclear Science and Engineering (22.102)

Nuclear Power and Society (22.103).


Past Teaching

Nuclear Weapons and International Security (22.814)