Leadership

Hon. Mark T. Esper
Distinguished Chair
Dr. Mark T. Esper served as United States secretary of defense from July 2019 to November 2020. From November 2017 to June 2019, he served as secretary of the Army. He is currently the Distinguished Chair of the Modern War Institute at West Point.

Patrick Sullivan
Director

Thomas Church
Deputy Director
Lt. Col. Thomas R. Church is the deputy director of the Modern War Institute at West Point. He is also the course director for DS475 Strategic Decision Making and an instructor for DS350 Persuasive Communications.

Max Margulies
Director of Research
Dr. Max Margulies is the Director of Research and an Assistant Professor at the Modern War Institute at West Point. He also serves as the course director for the thesis and capstone programs in West Point’s Defense and Strategic Studies program. He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania, an MA in Political Science from Columbia University, and a BA in Political Science (Honors) from McGill University.
Full-Time Staff

John Amble
Editorial Director
John Amble is the editorial director of the Modern War Institute at West Point. He is a military intelligence officer in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan. He writes on terrorism, intelligence, the military, and the Middle East.

Grant Barge
Plans Officer
Maj. Grant Barge enlisted in the army in 2003 after being a two-sport athlete and graduating from Palm Beach Atlantic University. He served as a rifleman in the 2nd Ranger Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment and deployed to Iraq before a training accident forced his medical separation in 2005.

Rodrigo Andres Coronel
Foreign Liaison Officer

Charles Faint
Staff Assistant
Lt. Col. Charles Faint currently serves as staff assistant of the Modern War Institute at West Point and as an Assistant Professor, teaching Comparative Defense Policy. A military intelligence officer, he holds five undergraduate and graduate degrees, the most recent of which is from Yale University. Published in a number of blogs and professional journals, Lt. Col. Faint is also the coauthor of Violence of Action: The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror.

Timothy Heck
Deputy Editorial Director

Patrick Howell
Assistant to the Director
Col. Patrick Howell is the assistant to the director of the Modern War Institute at West Point. A career Engineer and Strategic/Operational Planner, he has deployed in support of combat operations to Afghanistan, Iraq, and East Africa.

Jarrid Johnson
Senior Enlisted Advisor
Sergeant First Class Jarrid Johnson is the senior enlisted advisor for the Modern War Institute at West Point. He is an instructor for MS200 Fundamentals of Small Unit Operations. SFC Johnson is also the non-commissioned officer-in-charge and dive supervisor for the USMA Maritime Assessment Course for cadets attending Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course (CDQC).

John Spencer
Chair of Urban Warfare Studies, Codirector of the Urban Warfare Project
Project Directors

Kyle Atwell
Codirector of the Irregular Warfare Initiative

Elizabeth Buchanan
Codirector of Project 6633
Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan is an Australian polar geopolitics expert and codirector of MWI’s Project 6633. Her research interests include Arctic and Antarctic geopolitics, energy security, Russian grand strategy, and strategic studies more broadly. Dr. Buchanan is Head of Research for the Royal Australian Navy. She was formerly a lecturer of strategic studies for the Defence and Strategic Studies Course at the Australian War College.

Ryan Burke
Codirector of Project 6633

ML Cavanaugh
Codirector of the Shield Notes, Senior Fellow
Matt Cavanaugh is an active duty US Army strategist with global experience and assignments ranging from the Pentagon to Korea and West Point to the Middle East. He earned his master’s degree at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand and his PhD under Professor Emeritus Colin Gray at the University of Reading (UK). His writings have been featured in the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal, among other outlets.

Jahara Matisek
Codirector of the Shield Notes

Shawna Sinnott
Codirector of the Irregular Warfare Initiative

Maggie Smith
Codirector of the Competition in Cyberspace Project, Affiliated Faculty
Affiliated Faculty

Rose Horswill
Affiliated Faculty

Zhanna L. Malekos Smith
Affiliated Faculty
Zhanna L. Malekos Smith, JD, is a senior associate with the Strategic Technologies Program and the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC, and an assistant professor in the Department of Systems Engineering at West Point. Prior to joining West Point, Malekos Smith was a professor of cyber warfare studies with the US Air War College.

Dan Maurer
Affiliated Faculty
Dan Maurer is a judge advocate and former combat engineer officer. He serves currently as an assistant professor in the Department of Law at West Point. He was selected as nonresident fellow for the Modern War Institute from 2018 to 2021.

Rob Person
Affiliated Faculty
Senior Fellows

Max Brooks
Senior Fellow
Max Brooks is the best-selling author of The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z, and The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks, among other books. An advocate of challenging old ways of thinking and encourage mental agility and flexibility for problem solvers and leaders, he is frequently sought out to speak to audiences across the defense and national security community.

Nancy Collins
Senior Fellow
Nancy Collins is a senior fellow of the Modern War Institute at West Point. Collins writes about US defense, national security, and military technology. She is the chair of the Columbia Seminar on Defense and Security. Her essays and commentaries have appeared in a range of media outlets, including Forbes, the New York Times, TIME, US News and World Report, and the Wall Street Journal. She is the author of Grey Wars (Yale University Press, 2021).

Steve Leonard
Senior Fellow
Steve Leonard joined the University of Kansas School of Business as the Director of the graduate program in Business and Organizational Leadership following a twenty-eight-year career in the US Army. He is a former senior military strategist and the creative force behind Doctrine Man!! He is also the co-founder of Divergent Options, a founding member of the Military Writers Guild, and a frequent contributor to the Atlantic Council’s Art of Future Warfare Project.