Lauren M. Cherry is a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Navy Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps. An experienced national security lawyer, she has served domestically advising senior Department of Defense officials and military commanders on cyber, space, and other sensitive military operations, and has trained special forces on the law of armed conflict and the rules of engagement. Lauren has also served abroad, during both peacetime and war, advising U.S. and foreign forces on counter-piracy, maritime security, and counter-terrorism operations. She was appointed as a member of the 2023-2024 class of White House Fellows.

Lauren is passionate about promoting civic education as a national security imperative. In addition to teaching at Georgetown University Law Center, she is a fellow at Georgetown’s Center on National Security, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of National Security Law and Policy. She serves on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law and National Security, where she supports the committee’s efforts to educate the Bar and the public on the importance of the rule of law in preserving the freedoms of democracy and our national security. Lauren is also a member of the National Advisory Council for the Gephardt Institute of Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis.

Lauren earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis, a Juris Doctor with certificates in Child and Family Law and Trial and Appellate Advocacy from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, a Master of Arts with a concentration in Homeland Security and Homeland Defense from the U.S. Naval War College, and a Master of Laws in National Security Law from Georgetown University Law Center.