Peter J. Beshar serves as the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of the Air Force. He was nominated by President Biden in late 2021 and confirmed by the Senate in March 2022. As the Department’s Chief Legal Officer and Ethics Official, Mr. Beshar provides oversight and guidance to 2,600 civilian and military lawyers and 500,000 active duty and civilian members of the Air Force and Space Force.
From 2004 to 2022, Mr. Beshar served as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Marsh McLennan, a global professional services firm with 80,000 employees in 100 countries. Mr. Beshar led the legal, compliance, public affairs and risk management departments. Mr. Beshar is a recognized thought leader on cyber security with expertise at the intersection of public policy and private enterprise. He has testified multiple times before the Senate, House of Representatives and European Parliament and authored op-eds in the Washington Post, New York Times, and U.S. News and World Report.
In 2015, Mr. Beshar was appointed by President Obama as a Trustee of the Wilson Center for International Scholars. Earlier in his career, Mr. Beshar served as the Special Assistant to the former Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance, in the peace negotiations in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.
EDUCATION
1984 Bachelor of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1989 Juris Doctor, Cum Laude, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Mass.
CAREER CHRONOLOGY
1992–1993, Special Assistant, Honorable Cyrus Vance, International Conference on the Former Yugoslavia
1994–1995, Assistant Attorney General, Office of the Attorney General, New York City, N.Y.
1995–2004, Partner, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, New York City, N.Y.
2004–2022, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, Marsh McLennan, New York City, N.Y.
2022–present, General Counsel, U.S. Department of the Air Force, Washington, D.C.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Military Mondays Pro Bono Award, Legal Services NYC, 2019
Distinguished Leadership Award, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2016
Law and Society Award, New York Lawyers for Public Interest, 2014
Business Leadership Award, Citizens Union of New York City, 2009
David Rockefeller Fellow, Partnership for the City of New York, 2007
(Current as of August 2022)