Randall Forsberg facts for kids

Dr. Randall Caroline Forsberg (born July 23, 1943 – died October 19, 2007) was a smart and dedicated person who spent her life working to make the world safer. She researched and spoke out about how to lower the chances of war, reduce the money countries spend on their militaries, and help create fair governments. Her work began in 1968 at a research center in Sweden. Later, in 1974, she moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. There, she started two important groups: the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies (IDDS) and the national Nuclear Freeze campaign.

Randall Forsberg worked with another important person, Helen Caldicott, during the Nuclear Freeze movement. They faced many challenges, including unfair treatment because they were women. Despite this, they worked hard to lead the movement.

Many people believe that Forsberg's strong leadership in the nuclear freeze movement greatly influenced how the U.S. handled its relationships with other countries during President Ronald Reagan's time in office. Her efforts are even seen as a key reason why President Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev negotiated the INF Treaty, which helped reduce nuclear weapons.

Randall Forsberg's Story

Early Life and Studies

Randall Forsberg, often called "Randy," was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Her father was Douglass Watson. She graduated from Columbia University in 1965. Later, she moved to Pennsylvania, where she taught English. She married Gunnar Forsberg and moved to Stockholm, Sweden, in 1967. They later divorced.

While working as a typist at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she became very interested in how to control and reduce weapons. In 1974, she came back to the United States. She became a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), studying defense policies.

The Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies

After earning her Ph.D. in 1980, Randall Forsberg founded the Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies (IDDS). This was a non-profit group that studied military policies around the world. They looked at how many weapons countries had, how they were made, and how they were traded.

As the director of IDDS, Forsberg made sure they published important information. They put out the Arms Control Reporter every month and the IDDS Almanac: World Arms Holdings, Production, and Trade once a year. IDDS became a very helpful resource for groups working for peace and against nuclear weapons.

Leading the Nuclear Freeze Movement

In December 1979, Forsberg gave a speech in Louisville, Kentucky. This speech helped her gain support for her anti-nuclear campaign. It led her to publish Call to Halt the Arms Race in 1979. This document became the main idea behind the Nuclear Freeze Campaign.

The four-page paper asked for a stop to the testing, making, placing, and delivering of nuclear weapons by all countries. By 1982, Forsberg's nuclear freeze campaign had a lot of support. Many state and county governments, over 100 national groups, and large labor unions joined in.

The support for this movement, which started with everyday people, was clear in 1982. People voted on "freeze resolutions" in nine states. Out of 18 million U.S. citizens who voted, 10.8 million were in favor of the freeze. On June 12 of the same year, about one million people gathered in Central Park, New York City. They came to show their support for a Nuclear Freeze at a big anti-nuclear weapon rally.

MacArthur Foundation "Genius Grant"

In 1983, Randall Forsberg received a special award called a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant". This award gave her $204,000 for her amazing creativity in art, thinking, or helping society.

After getting this grant, Randall became the president of a group called Freeze Voter. This group worked to support political candidates in 1984 who were in favor of getting rid of nuclear weapons. They organized and raised a lot of money for this cause.

Later Achievements and Passing

In 2005, she became a special professor at the City College of New York. She was the Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professorship in Political Science and International Security Studies.

Randall Forsberg also served on the board of the Arms Control Association. This group works to reduce the danger of war by controlling weapons.

Dr. Forsberg passed away on October 19, 2007, at the age of 64, due to endometrial cancer. She is survived by her daughter, Katarina Forsberg. After her death, Professor Judith Reppy took care of the IDDS records. She helped move them to the Cornell University Library so they could be preserved.

Campaigns and Government Work

• In 1980, she started the national Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign.
• In 1995, President Clinton chose her to be on an advisory committee for the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
• In 1989, she gave important information to President Bush and his team about how the U.S. and the Soviet Union could control weapons.
• She spoke to the US Congress and the Swedish Parliament.
• She visited Seoul, South Korea, three times in 2001. She took part in discussions about peace between North and South Korea and reducing weapons.

Awards

• 1989: Pomerance Award
• 1983: MacArthur Foundation Fellowship

Education

• B.A. from Columbia University
• Ph.D. in Political Science (Defense Policy) from MIT

See also

• Institute for Defense and Disarmament Studies
• Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign
• Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
• List of peace activists