Sean Watts

Sean Watts is a Professor in the Department of Law at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he co-directs the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare. He concurrently serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Articles of War. On leave from Creighton University Law School, he holds the James L. Koley '54 Professor of Constitutional Law chair and has received the Faculty Member of the Year Award four times. He is a Senior Fellow at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Estonia.

Education includes an LL.M. from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School, J.D. from the College of William & Mary School of Law, and B.A. from the University of Colorado, Boulder. His research focuses on international law in cyber warfare, the law of armed conflict, and military legal frameworks. Watts has contributed to landmark projects like the Tallinn Manual and testified at Guantanamo Bay Military Commissions. His advisory roles include the ICRC’s Updated Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions.

Before academia, he served 15 years as an active-duty U.S. Army officer, including legal and operational roles, followed by 10 years in Army Reserve positions at the Army JAG School and U.S. Strategic Command.