Spotlighting Harvard Law School service members and veterans

Each year, Harvard Law School honors the many U.S. Armed Forces members and veterans who have enrolled in both J.D. and LL.M. programs. Read some of their stories, their reflections on their service to their nation, and how Harvard Law School helped them take the next steps in their military and civilian careers.

2024: Jonathan Zhangxu ’26, Lindsay Gabow ’27, and Annie Preis LL.M. ’25

Jonathan Zhangxu ’26, whose early experiences with religious persecution in China shaped his belief in human dignity, is now preparing for a legal career informed by his Christian faith and commitment to justice; Lindsay Gabow ’27, moved by the events of September 11, served seven years as a U.S. Army military intelligence officer, including counterterrorism work in Qatar, and is pursuing law to protect core American values; and Ann “Annie” Vodhanel Preis LL.M. ’25, a U.S. Navy JAG officer, is deepening her expertise in national security law at Harvard Law School to strengthen her service as a military lawyer.

2023: Edward T. Matheny Jr. ’49, Rachel Anderson J.D./M.B.A. ’26, Logan Lathrop ’25, Matt Pekoske LL.M. ’24, Harvard Law School’s Veterans Law and Disability Benefits Clinic

Edward T. Matheny Jr. ’49 served as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer in the Pacific theater during World War II, where he tracked the locations of ships and submarines for top commanders; Rachel Anderson J.D./M.B.A. ’26 served as a U.S. Army aviation officer-in-training and survived a catastrophic helicopter engine failure while preparing to become a pilot; Logan Lathrop ’25 serves as a cybersecurity and IT specialist with the Nevada Air National Guard, including a deployment to Kuwait; and Matt Pekoske LL.M. ’24 is a lieutenant commander and judge advocate in the U.S. Coast Guard who has led maritime counter-narcotics missions intercepting drug traffickers at sea.

2022: Blair Kuplic LL.M. ’23, Sarah McClellan ’25, Casey Nakamura ’25, Andrew Steen J.D./M.B.A. ’25

Blair Kuplic LL.M. ’23 most recently advised on operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet; she’ll next advise on operations for outer space; Sarah McClellan ’25, an Air Force veteran and member of the Lenni Lenape tribe, drew on her experiences at the U.S. Air Force Academy to amplify underrepresented voices and advocate for broader representation; Casey Nakamura ’25, whose relatives had been forced into internment camps during WWII, helped train the largest air defense battery in the U.S. Army Forces Command; and during two tours in Afghanistan, Andrew Steen J.D./M.B.A. ’25 managed various Ranger forces that aimed to disrupt Taliban and ISIS offensives throughout the country.

2021: Brad Carney ’24, Kristi L. Tanaka ’24, Nathan Lowry ’24, Shawn Brennan LL.M. ’22

Brad Carney ’24, who served in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to Iraq training Iraqi soldiers, is now drawing on his experience of hardship and service as he pursues his legal education; Kristi L. Tanaka ’24, a former U.S. Air Force military intelligence officer and military freefall parachutist, works to strengthen civil-military understanding by sharing her service experiences with classmates; Nathan Lowry ’24, who spent five-and-a-half years as a U.S. Marine Corps ground intelligence officer including a deployment to Afghanistan targeting the Taliban, brings his operational perspective to debates over national security and U.S. foreign policy; and Lieutenant Commander Shawn Brennan LL.M. ’22, a U.S. Navy JAG officer studying at Harvard through the Naval Postgraduate School, is deepening the legal expertise he applies in advising the fleet on complex military justice and operational law issues.

2020: Mtume Sangiewa ’23, Krissy Annunziata ’22, Andrew H. Choi ’23, Elizabeth Hutton LL.M. ’21

Mtume Sangiewa ’23 served for five years with the U.S. Marines presidential security unit with specialized training in marksmanship, deadly force training, and defensive tactics; Kristian Anne Annunziata ’22 served in Afghanistan and completed a three-year stint at the National Security Agency, where she focused on signals intelligence; Andrew H. Choi ’23 received a Distinguished Military Graduate award as one of the top ten percent of commissioning ROTC cadets nationwide; Elizabeth Hutton LL.M. ’21 served as deputy legal advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the highest-ranking military officer of the U.S. Armed Forces.

2019: Riley Vann ’22, Brandon Ricaurte ’22, Ivanka Canzius ’22, Anthony Sham LL.M. ’20

Lt. Riley Vann ’22 kept watch over 50 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) with nuclear capabilities that are part of the United States nuclear weapon defense force; Brandon Ricaurte ’22 joined the U.S. Army to become a Special Forces soldier, whose mission is to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves; Ivanka Canzius ’22 was stationed for five years in the post-trial division of JAG, where she processed post-trial motions in over 70 courts-martial and earned a commendation from the commanding general for exemplary competency; Anthony Sham LL.M. ’20 was just three years out of law school when he deployed one of the most dangerous regions in the Afghanistan to serve as primary legal adviser to American military leaders on matters of Afghan criminal procedure, Afghan constitutional law, and evidence-based operations.

2018: Sara Plesser Neugroschel LL.M. ’19, Stephen Petraeus J.D./M.B.A. ’21, Eve L. Howe ’21

U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Sara Plesser Neugroschel LL.M. ’19 is a counter-terrorism expert who is spending her year at HLS focusing on national security law and international relations; Stephen Petraeus J.D./M.B.A. ’21 spent eight years in the U.S. Army, deploying two times to Afghanistan including with the storied 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team; Eve L. Howe ’21 is an expert in nuclear submarines, spending five years as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where she solved complex technical problems to ensure the submarines would be able to accomplish their missions.

2017: Steve Kerns ’20, Jenna Reed, LL.M. ’18, Nathan Jester, ’20, Isabel Marin ’20

Steven Kerns ’20 was a soldier with the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, assigned to the notoriously dangerous Kunar and Nuristan provinces of Afghanistan; Jenna E. Reed LL.M. ’18 prosecuted and defended some of the most serious cases in that branch of the military as a JAG officer in the U.S. Marine Corps; Nathan Garrett Jester ’20 was a platoon commander, supervising 41 personnel and $16 million in equipment and weapons during amphibious and land-based operations in California, Hawaii, and Kuwait; Isabel Marin ’20 was promoted to platoon commander and then led 25 Marines on a six-month deployment to Kuwait.

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