Scott Woodruff Lyons served DSCA as the Regional Advising Acting Senior Principal for DSCU’s Institute for Security Governance (ISG). In this role, he oversaw security sector institutional reform. He is currently seconded to be the Senior Ministry Advisor in Fiji.

Mr. Woodruff Lyons also lectures at Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in the areas of maritime domain awareness, anti-corruption, and security cooperation. He is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Global Health at the Uniformed Services University. Prior to ISG, Mr. Woodruff Lyons served as a Democracy, Rights and Governance Officer at the US Agency for International Development (USAID), where he oversaw democracy and governance programs in the Sudans and was a lead anti-corruption advisor for transition and conflict countries. He also served in the Civilian Response Corps in a secondment to the US Department of State.

Prior to his US Federal Government service, Mr. Woodruff Lyons was Director of Programs at the American Society of International Law; oversaw the development of a USAID technical guide on court reform for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Rule of Law Initiative; was legal counsel for the Security Sector Reform (SSR) program in Liberia; and conducted legal advisory work for the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He has published extensively on International Law and Civilian-Military Coordination.

Mr. Woodruff Lyons has a Juris Doctor from American University’s Washington College of Law, a Master of Arts in International Affairs from American University’s School of International Service, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan. He is an avid hiker, including multiple sections of the Appalachian Trail, and volunteers in election protection. His family includes his spouse, their four children, and their rescue animals.