Todd Pennington

Adjunct Professor of Law

Todd Pennington is Senior Fellow for Space Strategy and Policy at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University. He conducts research and provides analysis on outer space and national security to senior Department of Defense officials and other joint force stakeholders. At Georgetown University Law Center he is an Adjunct Professor of Law and an Associate Fellow at the Center on National Security. He was previously Associate General Counsel for Intelligence (with portfolio for national security space programs) at the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel.

During his 25-year career as an active-duty Air Force officer, he served as the Staff Judge Advocate for United States Space Command and United States Space Force, as Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (with portfolio for nuclear operations and continuity of government), and as Deputy Staff Judge Advocate for the Joint Special Operations Command. He is the recipient of awards including the Burton Awards’ Public Service in the Military Award, U.S. Special Operations Command’s Major General William F. Garrison Award for excellence in legal support to special operations forces, and numerous military decorations. He has deployed eight times to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations.

Mr. Pennington received his Juris Doctor from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and international relations from the University of Memphis. He holds a graduate certificate in Weapons of Mass Destruction Studies from National Defense University and is an individual member of the International Institute of Space Law.