Lisa Monaco

Distinguished Scholar in Residence

Lisa Monaco is a Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. She was the 39th Deputy Attorney General of the United States. As the Deputy Attorney General, she was the Department’s second-ranking official and was responsible for the overall supervision of the Department. The Deputy Attorney General serves as the Chief Operating Officer, and the Department’s litigating and policy components, law enforcement agencies, and 93 U.S. Attorneys report to her.

A veteran of the Department of Justice, Monaco served as a career federal prosecutor and in several leadership positions across the Department. She began her Justice Department career as Counsel to Attorney General Janet Reno and went on to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where she was a member of the Enron Task Force and received the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service, the Department’s highest award. She has served in several prior leadership roles: Chief of Staff at the Federal Bureau of Investigation to then Director Robert S. Mueller, III; Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General; and Assistant Attorney General for National Security, the first woman to hold that position. She is a two time recipient of the Edmund J. Randolph Award, recognizing outstanding contributions to the Department’s mission.

From 2013-2017, Monaco was the Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor to the President. In that role, she advised the President on all aspects of counterterrorism policy and strategy and coordinated the Executive Branch’s policy and response to a wide range of security issues – including international and domestic terrorist incidents, cyber threats, pandemics, and natural disasters.

Prior to becoming Deputy Attorney General, in 2020, Monaco helped lead the vice-presidential vetting process and helped advise then-President Elect Biden during the cabinet formation process for the Biden-Harris Administration. Following the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, Monaco also served as Homeland Security Advisor to the transition for President Biden’s inauguration.

Outside of government, Monaco has served in private practice and on numerous national security-focused boards and commissions and has taught national security law. She is a founding co-chair of the Aspen Institute Cyber Group and a past recipient of the National Intelligence Public Service Medal and CIA Director’s Award.

She was born and raised in Massachusetts and is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School.