GW National Security Law

09/04/2026

This semester MG John Altenburg (USA, Ret) and Mr. Dan Stigall return to The George Washington University Law School to teach National Security Law. MG Altenburg is formerly the Deputy Judge Advocate General for the U.S. Army JAG Corps and is now of counsel at Greenberg Traurig. Mr Stigall is a policy director for the Department of War and formerly served on the National Security Council staff as a Director for Counterterrorism. They teach National Security Law together at GW Law each Fall.

09/03/2026

On September 2, the GW Law National Security, Cybersecurity, & Foreign Relations Law Program, together with the Veterans Law Students Association (VLSA) hosted a welcome reception for veterans at GW Law.

Mr. Brian Baldrate, VP & Chief Counsel, BAE Systems, and Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.), U.S. Army, provided remarks highlighting the special qualities of veterans entering the workforce.

05/27/2026

Two of our graduates, Jacob Hoechster (JD '26) and Jackson Head (JD '26), were awarded the Robert E. Thibault & Richard B. Schenck Award for Service to the Military. The award is presented to a member or members of the graduating class who have undertaken extraordinary efforts to honor, assist, or otherwise support veterans and current members of the United States Armed Forces.

Jacob was the president of the National Security Law Association and Jackson was the president of the Military Law Society during the 2025-26 academic year.

Pictured from left to right: Jacob Hoechster, Associate Dean Lisa Schenck, Jackson Head, and GW Law Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew.

05/19/2026

In addition to Dean Schenck's award from the Judge Advocate Association at their recent banquet, Captain Jordan Green (JD '18) was awarded the ABA's 2026 Outstanding Young Military Lawyer Award. This award, a joint effort of the American Bar Association Young Lawyer Division and Judge Advocate Association, recognizes the legal contributions of one young judge advocate from each uniformed service. Captain Green represents the awardee for the Army. Dean Schenck was awarded the Robinson O. Everett Distinguished Life Service Award from the Judge Advocates Association, its highest honor and recognizes a lifetime of dedicated service to military and veterans law, as well as sustained commitment to the Association’s mission and its members.

10/02/2025

Last week, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and the National Security Law Association hosted a “National Security Careers in Law Firms” panel to a full audience in the Burns Moot Court Room. The panel, moderated by Professor of Practice Jonathan Cedarbaum, featured partners from four law firms whose practices span different aspects of national security law, each with impressive and varied career paths. The panelists described how they entered the field and outlined the scope of their current work. They highlighted the tremendous growth of national security practice areas in recent years, particularly export controls, sanctions compliance, and matters relating to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).

Panelists encouraged students to take advantage of GW Law's Washington, D.C. location —the epicenter of national security legal practice—by pursuing relevant clerkships and internships and by building connections with practitioners in the field. They also fielded student questions on the effectiveness of national security policy, interactions with the U.S. and foreign governments, and anticipated developments in the years ahead. A key piece of advice was to stay closely attuned to current legal and policy debates, and the arguments behind them, to deepen understanding and stand out in the field.

A huge thank you to panelists Les Carnegie (Latham & Watkins), Brandon L. Van Grack (Morrison Foerster), Julie Edelstein (Wiggin and Dana LLP), and Bijan Ganji '10 (Milbank LLP), as well as to the GW Law students in attendance who made the National Security Careers in Law Firms Panel such a successful event.

09/22/2025

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program, in cooperation with the Veteran Law Students Association (VLSA), recently held its annual Veterans Welcome Back Reception. This year’s event featured a welcome speech from Dean Dayna Bowen Matthew and remarks from Lieutenant General (Ret.) Stuart W. Risch, who served as the 41st Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army.

On September 4, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program held its annual Veterans Welcome Back Reception.

09/22/2025

Earlier this month, GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and Military Law Society co-hosted the annual Judge Advocate General’s Corps (JAG) recruiter panel, where JAGs from each military branch provided GW Law students with insights and information about the critical work of service in the JAG Corps. Thank you to all our panelists and to the student attendees for a highly successful event!

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program and the MLS co-hosted the annual JAG recruiter panel earlier this month.

08/21/2025

GW Law’s National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law Program is proud to welcome Mary Rose Papandrea, Burchfield Professor of Free Speech Law, as an affiliated member of our faculty. A leading scholar on the First Amendment, free speech, and media law, Professor Papandrea also brings extensive expertise on government secrecy, national security leaks, and the reporter’s privilege. She has written widely on these subjects, and we are delighted that our students and our program will benefit from her scholarship and insight.

08/14/2025

GWU offers fully online or hybrid LLM/MSL degrees in National Security & Cybersecurity Law or National Security & Foreign Relations Law (MSL for non-JD holders) on Fort Belvoir. Fort Belvoir courses, taught at the U.S. Army Advocacy Center for those authorized access to the installation, allow degree completion within two years. Learn more: https://youtu.be/dRQGtUOjJOM

Spring 2026 Deadline is 5 December!

For more information you can reach out to the GW Law Associate Dean for National Security, Cybersecurity, and Foreign Relations Law, Lisa Schenck, at [email protected] or the Assistant Dean for Graduate and International Programs, Shehernaz Joshi at [email protected]

07/25/2025

Professor Murphy Lectures at 2025 Seoul Academy of International Law

On July 7-9 2025, Sean D. Murphy, the Manatt/Ahn Professor of International Law, provided three lectures on the law of the sea at the Seoul Academy of International Law in the Republic of Korea. Each year, the Academy convenes about 40 government diplomats, lawyers, and judges from across East Asia for a two-week series of lectures on various topics of international law.

Professor Murphy’s lectures identified the basic international rules and institutions governing the oceans, but also applied them to difficult contemporary problems, including rising sea levels due to climate change and the challenges in maritime boundary delimitation.

Professor Murphy also provided a lecture on July 11 at the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul to a group of government diplomats and lawyers, as well as Korean scholars. The lecture, entitled “International Law before and after Pax Americana,” addressed the U.S. role over the twentieth century in promoting a world order based on international rules and institutions, underwritten by U.S. economic strength and military power, followed by a decline during this century in the United States playing such a role, with consequential effects for international law and institutions.