In this interview, David Zierler, Oral Historian for AIP, interviews Roy Schwitters, professor emeritus in the Department of Physics, University of Texas, Austin. Schwitters recounts his childhood in Seattle and his early interests in math and science. He explains his decision to go to MIT for college and the circumstances leading to his thesis work at SLAC and his graduate experience at MIT where he worked with Louis Osborne and Victor Weisskopf. He describes his decision to continue to work at SLAC on the SPEAR project, where he reported to Burt Richter. Schwitters describes getting recruited to go to Harvard and his interest in the collider projects at Fermilab and Brookhaven. He discusses his early involvement and ultimate leadership position in the SSC project, and he shares his views on why the SSC ultimately failed to go forward. Schwitters describes his subsequent work at UT-Austin and his advisory role with the JASON group. In the last portion of the interview, Schwitters reflects on some of the most pressing issues at the intersection of science and national security, and the areas of research in which he plans to continue working.