Army Secretary forces West Point to rescind appointment given to Easterly
The United States Military Academy abruptly ended the appointment of Jen Easterly to a high-profile academic position in West Point’s Department of Social Sciences, according to a memorandum issued Wednesday by the Secretary of the Army.
On Tuesday, the academy announced that Easterly was named as the next Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair, a department position created in 1943 to bring a leading scholar, practitioner, or expert in the fields of social sciences — such as economics, political science, or international relations — to West Point.
In a since-deleted LinkedIn post, the academy welcomed the former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director and academy alumnus after “an extraordinary career of service in the public and private sectors.”
“Director Easterly’s unique perspective — combining military experience, advanced academic training, private sector innovation, and senior government service — makes her ideally suited to guide discussions on the critical issues facing our nation and the world.”
