Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., was named the 2012 recipient of the Paul H. Nitze Award, given by public policy research group CNA.

Lugar was honored for reducing the threat of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and the creation of the Nunn-Lugar arms control program in 1991 with then Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga.

The program is credited with deactivating thousands of nuclear warheads, intercontinental ballistic missiles and other weapons in the former Soviet Union.

The award was presented Saturday at CNA's 70th anniversary banquet and awards dinner. It is named for the former secretary of the Navy, who was an adviser on national security to nine presidents from the 1940s into the 1980s. Past recipients have included Nunn and Lee Hamilton, a former Indiana congressman.

Following his primary-election defeat, Lugar leaves office this year after 36 years in the Senate.