Spencer Phipps Boyer is an American foreign policy, national security, and international law and relations expert who served as

deputy assistant secretary of defense Assistant Secretary of Defense is a title used for many high-level executive positions in the Office of the Secretary of Defense within the U.S. Department of Defense. The Assistant Secretary of Defense title is junior to Under Secretary of Defen ...

for Europe and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in the Biden administration. Previously, Boyer served in the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

in the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

and Intelligence Community.

Early life and education

The son of Spencer H. Boyer, the senior-most faculty member at the

Howard University School of Law Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldes ...

, he was raised in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and graduated from Sidwell Friends School. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

, followed by a Master of Arts in French studies from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in New ...

. He is fluent in French.

Career

After graduating law school, Boyer joined the international law firm

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

in their Washington, D.C. practice. Two years later, he started his international law career clerking at the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

, then was a staff attorney at the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and counsel at the International Court of Arbitration in Paris. After returning to the United States, Boyer joined

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

as the executive director of the Constitution Project at the McCourt School of Public Policy. Later, he was a fellow at the Center for American Progress where he was the Director for International Law and Diplomacy. From 2007 to 2008 Boyer was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Obama administration

In January 2009, Boyer was named as deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs with responsibility for Western Europe, where served for two years. He then joined the Center for Transatlantic Relations at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

a visiting scholar and senior fellow. In 2014, Boyer rejoined government as the national intelligence officer for Europe at the National Intelligence Council for three years. After leaving government, Boyer was then named as the director of the Washington, D.C. office of the

Brennan Center for Justice The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is a nonprofit law and public policy institute. The organization is named after Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Generally considered Modern liberalism in th ...

. A supporter of the Democratic Party, he was a fellow at Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and later served on the foreign policy team for Biden's presidential campaign. In November 2020, Boyer was named a member of the

Joe Biden presidential transition The presidential transition of Joe Biden began on November 7, 2020 and ended on January 20, 2021. Unlike previous presidential transitions, which normally take place during the roughly 10-week period between the election in the first week o ...

Agency Review Team to support transition efforts related to the Intelligence Community.

Biden administration

In February 2021, Boyer was named as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, leading the defense relationships and policy with NATO and EU nations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Spencer Living people New York University School of Law alumni United States Department of Defense officials Obama administration personnel Biden administration personnel Year of birth missing (living people) Georgetown University faculty Harvard Law School fellows Wasserstein Fellows