Lisa O. Monaco is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Reiss Center on Law and Security at NYU School of Law. Monaco most recently served as assistant to the President for homeland security and counterterrorism in the White House. As President Obama’s homeland security advisor, she coordinated policy development and crisis response to terrorist attacks, cyber incidents, and public health emergencies and natural disasters.
Prior to her White House appointment, Monaco spent 15 years in various positions at the Department of Justice (DOJ), including as Assistant Attorney General for National Security, where she established the first nationwide network of national security cyber specialists and led a division of more than 300 lawyers responsible for national security cases and policy. Before leading the national security division, Lisa was principal associate deputy attorney general—the deputy attorney general’s primary advisor on criminal policy, law enforcement, national security, and civil litigation matters. She also served for three years as counsel and chief of staff to FBI Director Robert Mueller III, and before that, worked as an assistant US attorney, including as a member of the Enron Task Force. She began her legal career as a law clerk to Judge Jane Roth of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Monaco is the recipient of the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service—the DOJ’s highest honor—as well as the Edmund J. Randolph Award, awarded by the attorney general in recognition of outstanding contributions to the DOJ’s mission. She is a graduate of Harvard University and the University of Chicago Law School.