Spencer Boyer

Spencer P. Boyer is an Adjunct Professor in the BMW Center for German and European Studies at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. His courses are co-sponsored by the Master of Science in Foreign Service program. He is also a Partner in the Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) and leads the firm's National Security, Defense, and Aerospace practice. ASG, part of DGA Group, is a premier global strategic advisory and commercial diplomacy firm, based in Washington, D.C. He has over 25 years of professional experience in the United States and Europe with the U.S. government, international organizations, think tanks, academic institutions, and the private sector. Directly before ASG, he spent the 2024 winter academic term in residence at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where he was the Magro Family Distinguished Fellow in International Affairs at the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding, teaching a course on Russian influence in Europe.

In December 2023, Professor Boyer completed nearly 3 years of service in the Biden administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, where was responsible for managing the day-to-day defense relationship between the United States and NATO, the EU, and over 40 European countries. His government service includes senior roles in both terms of the Obama administration. From 2009 – 2011, he was a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, where his portfolio included Western Europe, public diplomacy, and public affairs. From 2014 – 2017, he was the National Intelligence Officer (NIO) for Europe in the National Intelligence Council—the center for long-range strategic thinking within the U.S. Intelligence Community. As NIO, he served as the senior European affairs analyst and principal subject matter expert on Europe for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and as the primary bridge between the intelligence and policy communities on European affairs.

Professor Boyer recently served as a Global Fellow in the Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (Wilson Center) and has been a Director, Senior Fellow, or Visiting Scholar with several other think tanks, including the Center for American Progress, the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, the Brookings Institution, the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law. He has also been the Executive Director of the Constitution Project, based at Georgetown University’s Public Policy Institute. In addition, he was a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School and a Visiting Professor at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain.    

Professor Boyer has been a guest analyst with numerous international, national, and local news outlets, including CNN, BBC, MSNBC, FOX, ABC, CTV (Canada), and Voice of America, and is widely published on foreign affairs. Among other professional distinctions, he was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service and received the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Impact Award for outstanding contributions helping Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion. He is on the Board of Directors of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, the HALO Trust USA, and Democracy Defenders Fund in Washington, D.C., and is Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of World Learning in Brattleboro, VT. He is admitted to the Bars of the District of Columbia, New York, and New Jersey, and is a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

He began his professional career as an Associate with the international law firm of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue in Washington, D.C. Subsequently, he worked in The Hague as a Law Clerk to the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in Zurich as a Staff Attorney at the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and in Paris as Counsel at the International Court of Arbitration. He has also served as a Director of Corporate Affairs at a Fortune 500 financial services company in San Francisco, where he focused on global corporate social responsibility.

Mr. Boyer grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland and Washington, D.C., where he attended Montgomery County public schools and Sidwell Friends School. He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he was selected for a fellowship to specialize in public international law and the work of international organizations. While at NYU, he also obtained a master’s degree in French Studies, with a concentration in French politics, history, and economy. In addition, he has done intensive French language education at Middlebury College and studied in Cameroon with the School for International Training. He is an active alumnus with his alma maters and was a 2021 recipient of a Distinguished Alumnus Award in Recognition of Outstanding Achievements and Service from Wesleyan University. He is married with two children at Rochambeau, the French International School, in Bethesda, MD.