Sean Arent

COALITION COORDINATOR

Sean grew up in Roy, Washington, in the shadow of Joint Base Lewis-McChord. A lifelong activist and organizer, he graduated from the University of Washington Tacoma with a bachelor’s degree in Politics & Philosophy with a minor in Human Rights. He is an avid outdoorsman who is passionate about ecological restoration, farming, and working-class struggle.

You can reach Sean at sean@wpsr.org

Max Savishinsky

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Max brings two decades of leadership experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic, education, social services and development sectors, including directorial roles with Refugees Northwest, the Seattle International Foundation, the University of Washington, and the Council on International Educational Exchange. He holds Master of Public Administration, Master of Arts in International Studies, and Doctor of Higher Education degrees from the University of Washington. Max speaks Spanish and Portuguese, and has lived, worked, studied and traveled in over 40 countries on 6 continents. A native of New York, Max has called the Pacific Northwest home for over 20 years. max@wpsr.org

Joseph Berkson, M.D.

WPSR NUCLEAR WEAPONS TASK FORCE CO-CHAIR

After a long career in Family Practice at Group Health (then Kaiser Permanente), Joe became actively involved in WPSR. He has been an antinuclear weapons advocate since living through the cold war, and competing in his senior year in high school with the debate team proposition: “There should be an internationally verifiable test ban treaty.” Going through medical school, Joe was active in the progressive Student Health Organization, protesting the war in Vietnam. As a young physician, he joined WPSR in 1985 and has been a member since then. Now retired with more time available, Joe joined the Nuclear Weapons Abolition Task Force in 2018, and was honored to be asked to co-chair the task force in 2019, leading WPSR’s efforts to lobby members of congress along with WPSR members, and helping to build the largest anti-nuclear coalition of its kind in the U.S.

WPSR is the Washington state chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR). Physicians for Social Responsibility has been working for more than 50 years to create a healthy, just and peaceful world for both the present and future generations.

PSR was founded in 1961, and made its mark by educating public and policymakers about the egregious impacts of developing and testing nuclear weapons on human health. In 1961, pediatricians and dentists spearheaded a study collecting children’s baby teeth in St. Louis to document the presence of Strontium-90, a highly radioactive waste product of atmospheric nuclear testing, in the human body. This finding led to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty that ended atmospheric nuclear testing.

In 1985, PSR shared the Nobel Peace Prize with International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) for raising public awareness on the catastrophic medical consequences of using nuclear weapons. IPPNW was established by American and Soviet physicians aiming to reawaken global society about the medical imperative of preventing nuclear war.