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Alumni Portrait
20 January 2020

Alumnus Becomes Director General of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

Rafael Mariano Grossi earned his PhD in International History in 1997 from the Institute. He is a diplomat with over 35 years of experience in the fields of non-proliferation and disarmament. He was elected as the IAEA’s Director General on 29 October 2019. In 2013, he served as the Agency’s Argentinian Ambassador to Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and International Organisations based in Vienna. 

In 2019, Mr Grossi presided over the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and from 2014 to 2016 he served as President of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the first person to serve two successive presidential terms. In 2015, he presided over the Diplomatic Conference of the Convention on Nuclear Safety, securing unanimous approval for the Vienna Declaration on Nuclear Safety – a milestone in international efforts in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.

From 2010 to 2013, he served as Assistant Director General for Policy and Chief of Cabinet at the IAEA. Previously, he held several senior positions in the Argentinian Foreign Service, including as Political Affairs Director General from 2007 to 2009. 

Mr Grossi was Chief of Cabinet at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague from 2002 to 2007. Prior to this, he held several positions within the Argentinian Foreign Ministry after joining in 1985, including Chief of Embassy in Belgium and Luxembourg from 1998 to 2002, and Argentinian Representative to NATO from 1998 to 2001.

Since 2017, Mr Grossi has been an International Gender Champion, promoting gender balance in the nuclear field.

rafael grossi
The IAEA is more important than ever. […] Within the framework of my mandate, I will work to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, promote development and combat climate change.
Rafael Grossi