Prof. Sean Watts

Sean Watts is a professor in the Department of Law and Philosophy and co-directs the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare. He is co-general editor of the Oxford University Press book series Lieber Studies. He is also co-editor-in-chief of the electronic publication Articles of War. He directs the Law of Armed Conflict for Commanders course and the Law Honors Thesis program. He has taught the Law Capstone course and the Cyber Law elective.

Previously, he was the James L. Koley '54 Professor of Constitutional Law at Creighton University Law School, where he was the four-time winner of the Faculty Member of the Year Award.

Professor Watts is a Visiting Professor at Reading University School of Law (UK). He serves as a Senior Fellow with the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Center of Excellence. From 2010-16, he participated in drafting both volumes of The Tallinn Manual on International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare. From 2009-11, he served as a defense team member in Gotovina et al. at the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia. In December 2017, he testified as an expert in the law of war at the Military Commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He has served as a Contributor and Reading Committee Member to the International Committee of the Red Cross Updated Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions.

Prior to teaching, Professor Watts served as an active-duty U.S. Army officer for 15 years in legal and operational assignments as a military lawyer and an Armor officer in a tank battalion. He later served 10 years in Army Reserve billets at the Army JAG School, West Point, and U.S. Strategic Command.