Sam Nunn is co-chairman and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a foundation committed to reducing the global threat of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. He is also a senior partner in the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding, where he focuses his practice on international and corporate matters. He served as a United States Senator from Georgia for 24 years (1972-1996).
 
Raised in the small town of Perry in middle Georgia, he attended Georgia Tech, Emory University and Emory Law School, where he graduated with honors in 1962. After active duty service in the U.S. Coast Guard, he served six years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. He first entered politics as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 1968.