He drafted the legislation that created the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), was one of the lead U.S. negotiators of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), served as Dean of the law school at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and spent the last two decades of his career at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University.
[1] Bunn studied electrical engineering in the Navy during World War II at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
While there, among other activities he defended several people accused of communist leanings in the McCarthy era and played a major role in the case that led to the desegregation of the restaurants in Washington, D.C.[3] Active in Democratic Party politics, he was a delegate for Adlai Stevenson at the 1960 Democratic convention.
On taking office, Kennedy appointed John McCloy, a key figure of the Republican establishment, to lead the effort.
"[4] In particular, when there was a deadlock on verification provisions for the treaty – which was on the verge of leading to a treaty with no verification provisions – Bunn, Timerbaev, Vladimir Shustov, and Culver Gleysteen went on a hike in the mountains near Geneva and worked out a compromise (though negotiators on each side had been instructed not to change their positions).
[3] When Richard Nixon took office as President in January 1969, Bunn left the government and took a job as a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison law school.
[3] Bunn served on the board of directors of the Arms Control Association and was one of the founders of what eventually became known as the Lawyers Alliance for World Security (LAWS).
[9] Bunn was the author, co-author, or co-editor of three books: Arms Control by Committee: Managing Negotiations with the Russians (Stanford University Press, 1992) provides an analysis of how presidents sought to develop approaches to arms control negotiations that would be acceptable with foreign adversaries, allies, contending agencies within their administration, and the U.S. Senate.