In This Story
Schar School of Policy and Government adjunct professor Lee Roberts was recognized as a 2024 Teacher of Distinction by George Mason University’s Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. Roberts is a U.S. Army strategic intelligence officer in his 17th year of active-duty service.
The Stearns Center, which promotes and develops innovation in teaching among the university’s faculty, recognizes Teachers of Distinction as those who have been finalists for Teaching Excellence Awards and are known for their commitment to teaching and teaching-related activities.
As an active practitioner in the field, it’s important to Roberts that the subject of international security—I-SEC—is taught the right way.
“First and foremost, students in the [Schar School’s] I-SEC program are talented, driven, and conscientious future—and in some cases current—practitioners whom it is my privilege to work with,” he said. “I want to do everything I can to help them clear a path into this professional field whether as a government servant or in an adjacent field such as think-tank analysis or security journalism.”
Roberts, who has been teaching at the Schar School since 2018, is assigned to the Joint Staff from the Defense Intelligence Agency and works in the Pentagon, located not far from the Schar School’s Mason Square Campus. That proximity allowed him to earn a master’s degree in international security in 2017—he was also a fellow at the Center for Security Policy Studies—and a PhD in political science in 2022.
His academic pursuits, as well as his teaching, inform his profession.
“Essentially, I direct the design and delivery of joint studies into future military intelligence capabilities that establish the requirements used by armed services, defense agencies, and the defense industry to develop and build those capabilities,” he said. “I primarily focus five to 15 years in the future, and I really love my job—it makes excellent use of the educational experience I got at the Schar School.
“By keeping a foot in both worlds, I am able to help students realize their goals, and students’ fresh perspectives and the seminar content from the classes helps me to be a better practitioner.”
While receiving the Stearns Center’s Teacher of Distinction recognition is gratifying, it’s the success of his students that Roberts finds truly rewarding.
“I have on multiple occasions run into recent alumni in the halls of U.S. government agencies implementing America's intelligence, national security, and foreign policy priorities, and I cannot adequately describe the pride I feel in having played even a small part in their journey,” he said.