Joshua Geltzer
{{Short description|American lawyer (born 1983)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Joshua Geltzer
| image = Joshua Geltzer, Deputy Homeland Security Advisor.png
| office = Deputy White House Counsel
| term_start = October 2023
| term_end =
| president = Joe Biden
| leader = Jake Sullivan{{efn|As the national security advisor head of the National Security Council}}
Ed Siskel{{efn|As the White House counsel head of the Office of the White House Counsel}}
| predecessor = Jake Phillips
| office1 = Deputy Homeland Security Advisor
| president1 = Joe Biden
| leader1 = Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall
| term_start1 = January 20, 2021
| term_end1 = October 2023
| predecessor1 =
| successor1 =
| office2 =
| president2 =
| termend2 =
| termstart2 =
| termstart =
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| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1983}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
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| party = Democratic
| spouse = Katherine Boone
| children =
| education = Princeton University (BA)
Yale University (JD)
King's College London (PhD)
| status2 =
}}
Joshua Geltzer (born 1983) is an American lawyer and national security expert. He currently serves as deputy assistant to the president of the United States Joe Biden, deputy White House counsel, and legal adviser to the United States National Security Council.
Early life and education
Geltzer is the son of Elise A. Geltzer and Robert L. Geltzer from New York.{{Cite news |date=2011-04-01 |title=Katherine Boone, Joshua Geltzer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/fashion/weddings/03BOONE.html |access-date=2024-07-04 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} His mother has served as the counsel to the New York State Continuing Legal Education Board, part of the New York State court system. His father has worked as a bankruptcy lawyer in private practice in New York and served on the American Bar Association’s board of governors from 1988 to 1991.
Geltzer attended Hunter College High School in New York City and then Princeton University.{{Cite web |title=Visit the Eisenhower Executive Building with Joshua Geltzer '05 |url=https://careerdevelopment.princeton.edu/events/visit-eisenhower-executive-building-joshua-geltzer-%E2%80%9805 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Center for Career Development |language=en}} As a freshman at Princeton, he was influenced by the events of September 11, 2001. The tragedy pushed him towards public policy and Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School. He graduated summa cum laude and his senior thesis won the Myron Herrick Prize.{{Cite web |date=2017-10-25 |title=Joshua Geltzer '05 Brings Government Experience to Constitutional Advocacy |url=https://paw.princeton.edu/article/joshua-geltzer-05-brings-government-experience-constitutional-advocacy |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Princeton Alumni Weekly |language=en}}
After Princeton, Geltzer pursued a Ph.D. in war studies at King's College London as a Marshall Scholar, where he wrote his dissertation on Al-Qaeda and U.S. counter-terrorism policy.{{Cite web |last=London |first=King's College |title=War Studies alumni appointed to advise President Biden |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/war-studies-alumni-appointed-to-advise-president-biden |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=King's College London |language=en}} Subsequently, Geltzer received his J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal.{{Cite web |last=Vladeck |first=Steve |date=2019-10-31 |title=Welcoming Joshua Geltzer as a New Executive Editor at Just Security |url=https://www.justsecurity.org/66809/welcoming-joshua-geltzer-as-a-new-executive-editor-at-just-security/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Just Security |language=en-US}}
After Yale Law School, Geltzer served as a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court and, before that, as a law clerk to Chief Judge Alex Kozinski of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Legal career
After his clerkships, he served as a senior advisor to the assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice, advising on legal and policy issues related to national security. Geltzer then joined the Obama administration's United States National Security Council as deputy legal advisor to the NSC and then senior director for counterterrorism.
In 2017, he served as a professor of law and the executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown Law, where he focuses on defending constitutional rights and democratic governance. Geltzer is a member of the American Law Institute.{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Joshua Geltzer Joins Biden Administration as Special Advisor |url=https://www.ali.org/news/articles/joshua-geltzer-joins-biden-administration-special-advisor/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=American Law Institute |language=en}}
In 2021, Geltzer joined the Biden administration. He initially served as deputy homeland security adviser to President Biden.{{Cite web |title=White House adviser Joshua Geltzer on "The Takeout" — 8/26/2022 - CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/white-house-adviser-joshua-geltzer-on-the-takeout-8262022/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=www.cbsnews.com |language=en-US}}
In 2023, U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan assigned Geltzer, alongside top Mideast advisor Brett McGurk, to lead negotiations aimed at reaching a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.{{Cite web |title=Scoop: Inside Jake Sullivan's call with U.S. hostages' families |url=https://www.axios.com/2021/12/07/jake-sullivan-hostage-families |website=Axios|date=7 December 2021 }} The deal ultimately included a four-day cease-fire, Hamas releasing 50 women and children, and Israel releasing 150 Palestinian women and children.{{Cite web |last=Samuels |first=Ben |title=Behind the Scenes on How Biden Hammered Out the Israel-Hamas Hostage Deal |url=https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/2023-11-22/ty-article-magazine/.premium/behind-the-scenes-on-how-biden-hammered-out-the-israel-hamas-hostage-deal/0000018b-f757-d7a8-a9cf-f77f58560000?v=1720128615617 |website=Haaertz}} He has also worked on policy to counter violent domestic extremism in the United States.{{Cite web |date=2021-01-22 |title=Biden plans to overhaul government's approach to domestic extremism |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-admin-plans-overhaul-government-s-approach-violent-domestic-extremism-n1255348 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=NBC News |language=en}}
Notes
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References
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Category:Princeton University alumni
Category:Obama administration personnel
Category:Biden administration personnel
Category:Hunter College High School alumni
Category:Lawyers from New York City
Category:21st-century American diplomats
Category:21st-century American lawyers
Category:Yale Law School alumni
Category:United States National Security Council staffers
Category:Georgetown University Law Center faculty