Center for a New American Security

Mr. Danzig was sworn in as the 71st Secretary of the Navy on November 16, 1998. He served as Under Secretary of the Navy between November 1993 and May 1997. In the period between these two jobs, he and his wife lived in Asia and Europe while Mr. Danzig served as a Traveling Fellow of the Center for International Political Economy and as an Adjunct Professor at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs. Mr. Danzig was born in New York City in 1944. He received a B.A. degree from Reed College, a J.D. degree from Yale Law School, and Bachelor of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. Upon his graduation from law school, Mr. Danzig served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Byron White.  Between 1972 and 1977, Mr. Danzig taught contract law at Stanford and Harvard Universities. He also was awarded a Prize Fellowship of the Harvard Society of Fellows, and a Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship. From 1977 to 1981, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, first as a Deputy Assistant Secretary and then as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower, Reserve Affairs and Logistics. In 1981, he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Public Service Award.  From 1981 to 1993, Mr. Danzig was a Washington, D.C., partner of the national law firm of Latham & Watkins. He served as Deputy Chair of the firm's International Practice Group, and also as Director of its Japan Group. He was also a Director of the National Semiconductor Corporation, a Trustee of Reed College, and interim Director of Litigation and then Vice Chairman of the International Human Rights Law Group. During this time, Mr. Danzig was co-author of the book, National Service: What Would It Mean?, that contributed to the development of America's present civilian National Service system.  Mr. Danzig and his wife, Andrea, reside in Washington DC where Mrs. Danzig has an active practice as a psychotherapist. They have two adult children, David and Lisa.