Walt Cooper

Lt. Col. Walt Cooper, U.S. Army Reserves, is Chair of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), a group which organizes law students and lawyers to develop and enforce a set of legal and human rights for refugees and displaced persons. Mobilizing direct legal aid and systemic policy advocacy, IRAP serves the world’s most persecuted individuals and empowers the next generation of human rights leaders. Walt currently serves as Director for Veterans Experience, a newly created position at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining VA in 2014, he spent 14 years as a U.S. Army Green Beret. During his military career, Walt served as the ground force commander of the U.S. mission to capture warlord Joseph Kony and defeat the Lord's Resistance Army in Central Africa. Previously, he commanded a Special Forces Operational Detachment through two tours in Iraq. Walt's service also included duty as an Assistant Professor in West Point's Department of Social Sciences and as a speechwriter to General David Petraeus. Walt graduated from West Point in 1999 as Valedictorian and Distinguished Honor Graduate, earning a BS in Economics. He subsequently completed an MSc in Economic History from Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar. Later, Walt continued his post-graduate studies at Harvard University, completing his PhD in Political Science in 2013. He is currently an adjunct professor in Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service.