Sonja Schmid received her PhD in science and technology studies from Cornell University. In 2007-08, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in the Monterey Institute for International Studies. Previously, she was a social science research associate at Stanford University, a science fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a lecturer in the Program in Science, Technology and Society at Stanford. Her research focuses on understanding complex decision-making processes at the interface between science, technology, and the state in the Cold War Soviet context. She is currently working on a book about reactor design choices and the development of the civilian nuclear industry in the Soviet Union.