Experts in the Field of Weapons and Warfare

Bio

Professor Jack Beard previously served as the Associate Deputy General Counsel (International Affairs) in the Department of Defense where he was responsible for a variety of legal matters, including those associated with arms control agreements, defense cooperation and basing agreements in the Middle East region, and programs assisting states of the former Soviet Union in the dismantlement of weapons of mass destruction and other nonproliferation activities. He served as the senior lawyer on numerous U.S. delegations negotiating international agreements related to a wide range of U.S. military operations and activities. He is also a Lieutenant Colonel in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, U.S. Army Reserve (Retired) and served as the Chief, International Law Section, International and Operational Law Division, Office of The Judge Advocate General. For his work as a consultant on international legal issues for the Department of Defense, he was awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service in 2013.

Professor Beard teaches National Security Law, Arms Control and Human Rights and International Criminal Law. He also teaches courses as a faculty member in the Space, Cyber and Telecom Law Program, including Cyber Warfare and National Security Space Law. His research interests and scholarship focus on the international legal implications of modern military technologies. Some of Professor Beard’s recent works have explored international legal issues raised by remotely controlled weapon systems and the nature of new conflicts in cyberspace. His latest article, in the Georgetown University Journal of International Law, is entitled “Autonomous Weapons and Human Responsibilities.”