A year after delivering CISAC's Drell Lecture, Mohamed ElBaradei has won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize. He shares the prize equally with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which he directs.

The Nobel committee commended the IAEA and its director-general "for their efforts to prevent nuclear energy from being used for military purposes and to ensure that nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is used in the safest possible way."

In "Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Arms Control: The Road Ahead," CISAC's 2004 Drell Lecture, ElBaradei drew lessons from nuclear weapons inspections in Iraq and elsewhere to support a call for politicians, scientists and society to work collectively toward nuclear disarmament. "If we are ever to build a global security culture based on human solidarity and shared human values -- a collective security framework that will serve the interests of all countries equally, and make reliance on nuclear weapons obsolete -- the time is now," ElBaradei said.

The Nobel committee echoed that sentiment in its peace prize announcement. "At a time when the threat of nuclear arms is again increasing, . . . this threat must be met through the broadest possible international cooperation," the committee said. "This principle finds its clearest expression today in the work of the IAEA and its director-general."