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Accession No. OCA.2026.0009: Randy Rydell, 2025 May
[identification of item], Randy Rydell Oral History, SPEC.OCA.57.0025, Ohio Public Policy Archives, Ohio State University
Contains computer and media files in the following formats: MP3, PDF
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Processed by: Sierra Sales, 2026 April; Finding aid written by: Sierra Sales, 2026 April
Randy Rydell was a staff member of the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under Senator John Glenn. Rydell received his bachelor’s degree in government and foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia and a master’s degree in international relations at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also completed a master’s degree and Ph.D. in political science at Princeton University. In 1979, Rydell applied to work in Senator John Glenn’s office, but he was rejected. After his rejection, Rydell worked as a political analyst at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. In 1987, Rydell joined the United States Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs under Senator Glenn, and his tenure lasted from 1987 to 1998. During that time, Rydell helped draft the Nuclear Proliferation Act of 1994 and edited the committee’s newsletter, Proliferation Watch. Rydell left the Senate in 1998 and joined the United Nations where he continued to advocate for disarmament of nuclear weapons.
As of 2026, Randy Rydell is the Executive Advisor to Mayors for Peace, an international organization of cities dedicated to the promotion of peace.
The Randy Rydell Oral History dates from April 14 and September 2, 2025, and consists of an audio recording and edited transcript of the interview between Randy Rydell and Cory Ackerman. Topics discussed in this oral history include Rydell’s education and background in nuclear nonproliferation, his tenure working for Senator John Glenn as a staff member on the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, foreign policy challenges in Asia and the Middle East, and his experience continuing work with the United Nations and nuclear nonproliferation after Senator Glenn’s retirement. Rydell also discusses Senator Glenn’s leadership and approach to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1978 and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act of 1994.
(1) MP3 file
(1) PDF file
The transcript for this oral history is available in two formats. A physical copy of the transcript is available in the Ohio Public Policy Archive's shared oral history box. An electronic copy of the transcript is available online in the University Libraries Knowledge Bank as a PDF file.