Johns Hopkins UniversityEst. 1876
America’s First Research University
Leigh Nolan
Adjunct Lecturer
About
Dr. Leigh E. Nolan is a career member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States. She most recently served as Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense during the administration transition for Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs in the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy (OSD-P), while dual-hatted as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance. Prior to joining Homeland Defense and Hemispheric Affairs, she served as Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense and Principal Director for Global Partnerships, overseeing security cooperation and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief policy for the Department of Defense.
As Director for Strategic Analysis in the Strategy and Force Development office, she was a director for both the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy teams, where she designed and led the analytic agenda. She also served as Director for Syria in OSD-P, Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council Staff, and as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff.
She has taught International Relations at Georgetown University and Tufts University, and was a Boren Graduate Fellow in Yemen, a Fulbright-Hayes lecturer in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in South Korea. As a graduate student, she helped establish and manage the first international relations program for women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Nolan earned a BA from Swarthmore College and a MALD and PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.
As Director for Strategic Analysis in the Strategy and Force Development office, she was a director for both the 2022 National Defense Strategy and the 2018 National Defense Strategy teams, where she designed and led the analytic agenda. She also served as Director for Syria in OSD-P, Director for Strategic Planning on the National Security Council Staff, and as a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff.
She has taught International Relations at Georgetown University and Tufts University, and was a Boren Graduate Fellow in Yemen, a Fulbright-Hayes lecturer in Iraqi Kurdistan, and a Fulbright Teaching Fellow in South Korea. As a graduate student, she helped establish and manage the first international relations program for women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Nolan earned a BA from Swarthmore College and a MALD and PhD in International Relations from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University.