Ambassador Rafael Mariano Grossi is set to take office as Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in early December, following his appointment to the post by the Agency’s Board of Governors on Wednesday 30 October 2019.
In a meeting open to representatives of all IAEA Member States, the 35-nation Board of Governors appointed by acclamation Mr. Grossi as Director General, to serve for four years from 3 December.
The Board of Governors decision will be submitted for approval to the IAEA General Conference, which consists of representatives of all 171 Member States. It will meet for a special session on 2 December.
A career diplomat with over 35 years of professional experience in non-proliferation and disarmament, Mr. Grossi is currently Argentina’s Ambassador to Austria and the country’s Permanent Representative to the Vienna-based International Organizations, including the IAEA. The Brazilian government was among the first to support Rafael Grossi.
The new Director General will be the IAEA’s sixth head since it was founded in 1957.
Yukiya Amano of Japan was the IAEA’s fifth Director General. He was first appointed to the office effective December 2009 and reappointed in 2013 and 2017. He passed away on 18 July 2019. He followed Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Director General from 1997 to 2009; Hans Blix, IAEA Director General from 1981 to 1997; Sigvard Eklund, IAEA Director General from 1961 to 1981; and Sterling Cole, IAEA Director General from 1957 to 1961.
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