Mr. Gary D. Brown, J.D.

Professor

Gary D. Brown is a professor at the Eisenhower School, National Defense University, Washington, DC. He was previously Professor of Cyber Law at National Defense University; a cyber policy and strategy analyst for the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Staff Strategy, Plans, and Policy (J5); and Professor of Cyber Security at Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia. He served 24 years as a judge advocate with the United States Air Force, including a deployed assignment as the senior legal advisor for combat air operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. In his final military assignment, he was the first senior legal counsel for U.S. Cyber Command, Fort Meade, Maryland.  

Professor Brown has authored articles and book chapters on cyber warfare, artificial intelligence, influence operations, and related topics including “International Law and Cyber Conflict,” in Routledge Handbook of International Cybersecurity (2020); “Commentary on the law of cyber operations,” in The United States Department of Defense Law of War Manual Commentary and Critique (2018); and “Artificial Intelligence and National Security,” in William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal (2022). He was the official U.S. observer to the drafting of the Tallinn Manual on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare (2013), and is a member of the International Group of Experts that authored Tallinn Manual 2.0 (2017). Professor Brown also appeared as the legal expert in the documentary film Zero Days (2016). He has a law degree from the University of Nebraska and an LL.M. in international law from Cambridge University.