Jeff Kosseff

Jeff Kosseff is a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School. Until 2026, he was a professor of cybersecurity law at the United States Naval Academy. He was previously a journalist, and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and recipient of the George Polk Award.

Education Kosseff graduated from the University of Michigan with bachelor's and master's degrees. He received a doctorate of jurisprudence from Georgetown University Law Center. He won the George Polk Award in 2006 and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting in 2007.

Legal career Kosseff clerked for Judge Milan Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. He is taking over as the Director of the Silha Center for the Study of Media Ethics and Law at the University of Minnesota.

Previously, as a lawyer at Covington & Burling LLP, he represented media and technology companies in a wide range of First Amendment and privacy issues. Among his representative matters, he advocated for federal shield law for journalists on behalf of a coalition of more than 70 media organizations. He frequently writes and speaks about the First Amendment and privacy law. The Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has named Kosseff a Privacy by Design Ambassador. Kosseff is an adjunct professor of communications law at American University's School of Communications, and he serves on the board of directors of the Writer's Center in Bethesda and Advocates for Survivors of Torture and Trauma in Washington, D.C.

Personal life Until assuming his new position in Minnesota, he lived with his wife and daughter in the Washington, D.C. area.