Yale Daily News Interview with Jared Milfred, ISPS Director’s Fellow

In the Yale Daily News Weekend edition published today, ISPS Director’s Fellow, Jared Milfred ‘16, is featured in the Interview Issue.

Milfred, an Oregon native, became a licensed nuclear reactor operator before enrollment at Yale, and has the honor of being the youngest nuclear operator in the country. He spent his senior year in high school training at Reed College’s research reactor.

In the interview he explains what exactly one does as a nuclear operator: “It’s very Homer Simpson-esque…there’s a big panel with buttons and switches;” the skill set required: “One thing I really liked about it was that they emphasized theoretical knowledge just as much as they emphasized practical knowledge;” and what drove him to become an Ethics, Politics and Economics major at Yale: “My interest in nuclear translated from tech interests to policy interest. So the vast amount of my work with nuclear right now is related to nuclear regulatory policy, which is helpfully informed by being an actual operator, and what it’s like to interact with the NRC.”

Milfred was selected for the inaugural class of the ISPS Director’s Fellows, which provides Yale College students with sophisticated policy training and work experiences to bridge the gap between theory and practice in U.S. domestic policymaking. Read more about the Fellowship here.

Read the full interview here.