As Professor Beard retires from teaching, it is time to reflect on a decade and a half of impactful teaching, writing and service on behalf of Nebraska Law students and in the field of space, cyber and national security law. Professor Beard came to Nebraska after 14 years of service at the Department of Defense General Counsel’s Office for International Affairs as Associate General Counsel (where he was awarded numerous Secretary of Defense medals for exceptional service) and five-plus years of teaching and researching in national security-related matters at UCLA School of Law. Jack was incredibly well-equipped to deliver impactful results for Nebraska Law. Jack’s scholarship, published in top international law journals, on space law and cyber law included insights not found elsewhere, such as how soft-law for space matters could be harmful unless it was of the bottom-up variety, how oversimplifying international cyber warfare doctrines might be both under and over-inclusive, and how autonomous weapons created challenges for many aspects of international humanitarian law. Professor Beard’s crowning achievement was the detailed, thorough and ground-breaking Woomera Manual on the International Law of Military Space Activities and Operations (Oxford Univ. Press, 2024) that featured Jack as the lead author editor-in-chief and also lead organizer in efforts to work with and consult nation-state officials from over 24 countries to ensure the manual was founded on state practice and representative of international law as it exists. Now, and over the coming decades, the manual will provide a useful and compelling resource for military and civilian government personnel, space operators, practitioners, academics and members of international organizations and non-governmental organizations. The careful research Jack conducted, with assistance notably by Georgetown Law Professor David Koplow, means the book will also have considerable influence in the field of general international law as well. For example, the manual had to struggle with interpretation and hierarchy rules in general international law when potentially applicable rules in space conflicted with one another. Jack utilized several Nebraska law students as research assistants on the project and more than a few used the experience and mentoring of Professor Beard as a springboard to their own careers in space and national security law.
Indeed, Professor Beard’s enthusiasm for his teaching in these fields of law to both J.D. and LL.M. students was apparent each day in the classroom and even outside the classroom. Jack hosted the entering LL.M. class, many of them Air Force and other military service JAGs, at his house for great BBQ food prepared by he and his wife Rachel, and spirited bocce ball games after dinner. Jack assisted J.D. students interested in these areas by advising and mentoring them as they pursued careers in military JAG corps and other national security and space related positions. He prepared the LL.M. students to be leaders and original thinkers as they were stationed at military bases at the completion of the LL.M. – so many that morning meetings at some of the leading U.S. military space and cyber law offices resemble Nebraska alumni meetings. Over two dozen J.D.s went onto military JAG careers with Jack’s mentoring and over 65 JAGs that enrolled in the LL.M. program were mentored and educated by Jack prior to going off to new military assignments in space, cyber and national security law. Nebraska LL.M.s gained a reputation for being able to contribute day one at their new space, cyber and national security law assignments in no small measure because of the education, both practical and theoretical, that Professor Beard provided in his courses including International Cyber Security, National Security Space Law, National Security Law, Arms Control, and Human Rights & International Criminal Law. Jack’s experience and lasting connections with military legal offices enabled him to share the on-the-ground – or shall we say – in-space and in-cyber – real-world examples of events and activities, such as satellite signal jamming and cyber intrusions, that implicated legal norms and doctrines. As students going to visit Professor Beard at his office hours learned, behind each miniature national flag and picture in his office was a real-world experience that could be raised to enhance understanding of a legal norm or policy in national security.
Jack also contributed through his leadership in national and international organizations, most significantly the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), where Jack served for many years as Chairman of the Committee on the Use of Force of the American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA) and as a member of the ABILA Board of Directors. Jack is also one of the U.S. representatives on the London-based International Law Association’s Committee on the Use of Force. Jack shared his research results at numerous US and international conferences, including those of the American Society of International Law, the International Institute of Space Law, and the US Space Command Legal Conference, as well as Nebraska Law’s own annual D.C. space law conference.
Jack continues as director of the Space, Cyber and National Security Law program – a program that added National Security Law to its title to reflect the success of Jack and the Nebraska students he mentored in the fields of space, cyber and national security law. Jack grew the already significant student interest in these related fields of law. Jack’s large impact in all his endeavors are driven by his great care and enthusiasm for his courses, research and service. Through the continued success of all his past students, both J.D. and LL.M., and his ground-breaking research, Professor Beard’s impact will keep on multiplying with each passing year.
