Leyla Tiglay is an Ernest May Fellow in History and Policy and a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University studying the international history of the Cold War and decolonization. She is an interdisciplinary scholar trained in political science and history. 

Her dissertation examines the nexus of nuclear history and decolonization, exploring how major crises of decolonization affected nuclear decision-making during the Cold War. This project looks more specifically at decolonization in Africa, anti-nuclear movements, and France's nuclear tests in the Sahara. Great Power diplomacy through the Test Ban and NPT negotiations, the mobilization of science and technology in nuclear decision-making, and American grand strategy are major background themes of this research. Broadly, it aims to merge bottom-up and top-down politics of disarmament and nuclear decision-making to offer fresh insights into the formation of the international nuclear regime.