SFWAF Fall 2026 Programs

25 September 2026:
Carmen J López, “Documenting Truth through Impartial Monitoring When It Matters Most,” is a Consultant for the Carter Center’s Democracy program. Since 1989, The Carter Center has stood as democracy’s guardian, conducting over 125 full and limited election observation missions in 40 countries and three Native American nations while pioneering the techniques that set today’s global standards. Currently, The Carter Center is building a U.S-based election observation network. Mrs. López supports the build-out and co-leads the Carter Center’s election monitoring effort in New Mexico beginning with the November mid-term elections. Read more

22 October 2026:
Siegfried Hecker, Is Nuclear Cooperation with China Possible? Is it Desirable? Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey

To answer these questions, I will review the history of nuclear cooperation between the United States and China going back some 50 years. Although the relationship has had its ups and downs, it has brought significant benefit to both, and to the world. It is endangered again now as Washington and Beijing are choosing competition over cooperation. I will make the case, that in the nuclear arena this points us in the wrong direction. – Siegfried Hecker

Siegfried Hecker, Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey, CA was at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 34 years, including 12 years as director. He was at Stanford University for 17 years and is now part-time professor of practice at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Hecker has worked on nuclear matters for most of his career, including having visited all countries with declared nuclear weapons programs, including North Korea.  He is the author (with collaborating author Elliot Serbin) of Hinge Points: An Inside Look at North Korea’s Nuclear Program (Stanford University Press, January 2023) and editor of Doomed to Cooperate: How American and Russian Scientists Joined Forces to Avert Some of the Greatest Post-Cold War Nuclear Dangers, Los Alamos Historical Society, June 2016.

18 November 2026:
Ambassador (rtd) Vicki Huddleston, in “1898 to 2026 U.S. vs Cuba – Who Loses and Who Wins?” questions whether the Trump administration’s maximum pressure campaign against the Cuban government will succeed – if the past 128 years are a guide – even if it achieves regime change. As a distinguished career US Foreign Service Officer Ambassador Huddleston served as the principal American diplomat in Ethiopia, Mali, Cuba, and Madagascar and also as Director and Deputy Director of Cuban Affairs at the Department of State. She is the author of Our Woman in Havana: A Diplomat’s Chronicle of America’s Long Struggle with Castro’s Cuba, which is based on her three years in Havana as the head of the American diplomatic mission.

10 December 2026:
Dr. Bette Korber, “Vaccines: Some Biology, Some History, and Vaccine Uses in Outbreaks and for Pandemic Response – Highlighting Ebola and SARS-CoV-2.” Virology expert, guest scientist and LANL Fellow Bette Kobler, works on projects related to viral evolution and vaccines through the New Mexico Consortium and as a scientific consultant for Duke, Harvard and University of Pennsylvania. She retired from LANL in 2023. In her presentation, she will focus on vaccines’ role in awakening our own immune defense mechanisms to protect us from disease, will discuss some incredible vaccine success stories, touch on the history of the anti-vax movement and conclude with the story of the effort that enabled the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine to be deployed the first year of the pandemic and its global impact, and the challenges and promise for vaccines that combat outbreaks of the Ebola virus.

All programs will be held in the SFCC Board Room at the Santa Fe Community College from 12-2. The Board Room (#223) is located in the main administration building. Programs include a buffet lunch, a talk followed by comments and Qs and As from attendees. For registration, payment and prices, please see our Payments page. Parking is free on campus. For additional information and to be added to our email list, please email: sfwaforum@outlook.com.

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