Will Gunn
General Counsel
Class of ’80
Will A. Gunn is the General Counsel and Vice President for Legal Affairs for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In 2009, he was appointed by President Barack Obama as the General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and served in that role for five years. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with military honors and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School where he served as President of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. He also holds an LL.M in environmental law from George Washington University, a Masters in National Resource Strategy from the National DefenseGeorge’s University, and a Masters in Ministry (with a focus on Leadership) from Lancaster Bible College.
In 2003, Will was selected as the first-ever Chief Defense Counsel for the DoD Office of Military Commissions. In that role, he established an office that defends detainees brought before military commissions at the Guantanamo Prison Camp.
He served as a White House Fellow during the George H. W. Bush Administration and after retiring from the Air Force as a colonel in 2005, Will served as CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. Will chaired the ABA’s 2021 National Law Day commemoration; the ABA Youth at Risk Commission; and the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. He was a founding Director of the Air Force Academy Way of Life Alumni Group and served as the Vice Chairperson of the Air Force Academy’s Association of Graduates. He is also a minister in his local church and has received numerous awards including an honorary doctorate from Nova Southeastern University and the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau’s Outstanding Alumni Award.