April 22, 2019 | Martin Walls

The Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism (INSCT) — a collaboration between the Syracuse University College of Law and the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs — has added five senior national security experts to its academic and advisory leadership team.

These Distinguished Fellows — drawn from the upper echelons of the national security and intelligence communities — will assist the Institute's mission with a variety of assignments that will directly benefit students and expand INSCT's portfolio of research and policy projects.

Joining INSCT are Steve Bunnell, Co-Chair of Data Security and Privacy at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, former General Counsel of the US Department of Homeland Security, and former Chief of the Criminal Division at the US Attorney’s Office in Washington, DC; Rajesh De, Chair of the Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice and Co-Chair of the National Security practice at Mayer Brown LLP and former General Counsel for the US National Security Agency; Avril Haines, Senior Research Scholar at Columbia University, former Deputy National Security Advisor, and former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; Amy Jeffress, Partner at Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and former Counselor to the US Attorney General; and Lala Qadir, Associate and Member of the Artificial Intelligence Initiative at Covington & Burling LLP and Lecturer in Law at George Washington University Law School.

"These Distinguished Fellows are five of the leading experts in the field of national security law and policy, and I am thrilled that they have chosen to affiliate with the Institute," says the Hon. James E. Baker, Director, INSCT. "They bring extraordinary practice experience and diverse expertise to Syracuse. They will expand the Institute's reach in areas such as emerging technology, data privacy, and cybersecurity. Even better, if you think they are great at what they do—and they are—they are even better people, among the most honorable and ethical public servants I have known. If your mission is to train the next generation of thought leaders and practitioners in the field of public and private national security law, you would want this team of Fellows on your side."

Among the Fellows' roles — in Syracuse, New York City, and Washington, DC — they will help teach national security courses; lecture in the Institute's speakers program; provide students with career advice and guidance; and offer insights and input regarding the Institute's classroom and practical curriculum and its research and policy portfolio. They also will help the Institute stand up and teach a cutting-edge course on the practice of private national security law.

“Specifically, the Distinguished Fellows give the Institute the opportunity to fill a need that is not being met," continues Judge Baker. "They will help us teach students at the College of Law and the Maxwell School what they need to know in order to practice in the area of private national security law and policy—at law firms, as in-house counsel, or as business officers and executives. This is an area of private practice that is growing exponentially, that offers career opportunity for our students, and that is critical to US national security, as well as the protection and advancement of US legal values.” It is anticipated that additional Fellows will join those announced today.

The addition of these national security experts to the Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism significantly strengthens the Institute's already formidable academic and research portfolio," says Dean Craig M. Boise, Syracuse University College of Law. "Crucially, INSCT Distinguished Fellows will open up important opportunities and avenues for law and public policy students, especially in emerging areas of national security studies, such as artificial intelligence, data privacy, and transnational crime."

With decades of experience working on some of the most pressing law and policy issues of our time, INSCT Distinguished Fellows will add greatly to our students’ understanding of the practice of national security law and policymaking," says Dean David M. Van Slyke, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. “Their insights as senior civil servants and practitioners in political positions, as well as in private practice and academia, will enrich the student experience and expand the depth and reach of Maxwell’s thought leadership and emerging research.”