Dr. Ryan Burke is a Professor of Military & Strategic Studies (MSS) at the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA). He is the Co-Director of Project 6633 at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, where he also served as a two-term (2019-2020; 2020-2021) MWI Non-Resident Fellow. Ryan is also an Affiliate Professor with the University of Alaska – Fairbanks (UAF) Center for Arctic Security and Resilience. Additionally, he is the Research Director for US Northern Command's (USNORTHCOM) Homeland Defense Institute (HDI). Dr. Burke teaches classes on international security studies, military power projection, military affairs, and defense policy. He is the recipient of both USAFA's William H. Heiser Award for Outstanding Senior Faculty Educator (top professor – cadet voted) and USAFA's Robert F. McDermott Award for Faculty Research Excellence (top researcher – faculty voted). Ryan holds graduate degrees from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the University of Delaware's Joseph R. Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, and Saint Joseph's University. He earned his BA from Penn State University, where he attended on a Marine-Option Naval ROTC scholarship, and subsequently commissioned into the Marine Corps.

Dr. Burke came to USAFA after completing a Department of Defense-funded post-doctoral research fellowship in the Biden School where – in addition to teaching undergraduate public policy courses – he served as a University Research Fellow during his final year. Dr. Burke's research examines military operations and defense policy across the spectrum of conflict. He also owns a patent for a soft anti-ballistics composite armor and conducts research in materials science. He is currently funded via the DOD Minerva Research Initiative and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He has completed other funded projects via the Strategic Studies Institute; the Department of Homeland Security; the US Marine Corps; and other entities. Ryan has authored, co-authored, or edited multiple books; journal articles; book chapters; conference papers; technical reports; winning essays in national competitions; and various policy pieces for public venues. His latest book, The Polar Pivot: Great Power Competition in the Arctic and Antarctica (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2022) discusses the polar regions in the context of international security. Ryan is also the chief editor of Military Strategy, Joint Operations, and Airpower: An Introduction (Georgetown University Press, 2018, 2022) and is an opinion contributor to The Hill on national security matters. Ryan has been interviewed, quoted, or otherwise featured on TV and in print with Fox News, NBC News, ABC, Business Insider, USA Today, the Weekendavisen (Denmark), and other media outlets. He is an elected Council Member for the American Political Science Association (APSA) International Security Section; has worked with the US Senate on defense legislative and policy matters; and has represented the United States overseas in international diplomatic dialogue sessions with Russia and China on Arctic security.

Prior to his academic pursuits, Ryan was a U.S. Marine Corps officer where he served as a platoon commander and company commander during his fleet tour. He then served as the Deputy Marine Officer Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania's Naval ROTC unit teaching naval science courses. After leaving the Marines due to a combat-related injury, he worked as a Senior Consultant and Defense Analyst for Booz Allen Hamilton supporting Department of Defense projects in the Pentagon and with the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, VA.

Dr. Burke continues to participate in US military training and operations both domestically and abroad as a DOD civilian via his research engagements. He conducts embedded fieldwork in conflict zones, working in the Middle East, the Sahel, Eastern Europe, and extreme climates of the Arctic and Antarctica, among other locations. He is also an experienced mountaineer and explorer, having recorded first ascents of multiple Antarctic peaks and ski crossings of previously unmapped glacial terrain.

Ph.D., University of Delaware, Newark, DE.

M.P.A., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

M.S., Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, PA.

B.A., Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Academic Positions and Affiliations:

Research Director, Homeland Defense Institute, USAFA Institute for Future Conflict, USAF Academy, CO (2021-Present)

Co-Director, Project 6633, Modern War Institute, U.S. Military Academy at West Point, West Point, NY (2021-Present)

Affiliate Professor, University of Alaska – Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK (2021-Present)

Associate Professor, U.S. Air Force Academy, USAF Academy, CO (2018-Present)

Assistant Professor, U.S. Air Force Academy, USAF Academy, CO (2015-2018)

Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (2015)

Instructor, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (2015)

University Research Fellow, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (2014-2015)

Research Assistant, University of Delaware, (2013-2014)

PhD Student/Candidate, University of Delaware, Newark, DE (2012-2015)

Adjunct Instructor, Wilmington University, New Castle, DE (2012-2015)

Naval Science Instructor, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA (2010-2011)

Professional / Military Experience: 

Senior Consultant, Booz Allen Hamilton, Pentagon / Quantico, VA (2011-2012)

Deputy Marine Officer Instructor, University of Pennsylvania (2010-2011)

Company Commander (2009-2010)

Platoon Commander (2008-2009)

Department of Defense, Minerva Research Initiative – Defense Education and Civilian University Research (DECUR) Partnership, “Foreign Military Training: Building Effective Armed Forces in Weak States,” $382,897 (2020-2023)

Air Force Office of Scientific Research, “Linking Science and Security: Towards a NOAA-DOD Partnership for National Defense,” $9,998 (2022-2023)

Co-Inventor, U.S. Patent 11,519,698, Soft Anti-Ballistics Composite, (with Hayley Weir), (2022)

Government of Canada, Department of National Defence, Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security, “Special Forces in the High North” $47,324 (2021-2022)

William H. Heiser Award for Outstanding Senior Faculty Educator (top professor award; cadet voted), USAFA (2021)

Robert F. McDermott Award for Faculty Research Excellence in the Social Sciences, USAFA (2021)

Top 10 Nominee, William H. Heiser Award, (2021)

Department of Defense, Minerva Research Initiative – Defense Education and Civilian University Research (DECUR) Partnership, “Foreign Military Training: Building Effective Armed Forces in Weak States,” $382,897 (2020-2022)

Non-Resident Fellow, Modern War Institute at West Point, (2019-2020; 2020-2021)

Air Force Office of Scientific Research, “The Polar Pivot: Great Power Competition in the Arctic and Antarctica,” $19,358 (2020-2021)

Top 10 Nominee, William H. Heiser Award, (2020)

Air Force Institute of Technology,  “Assessing Anti-Ballistics Capabilities of Non Newtonian Fluids and Composites,” $100,000 (2018-2020)

Top 10 Nominee, William H. Heiser Award, (2019)

Erwin E. Bleckley and Harold E. Goettler Outstanding Instructor in Military and Strategic Studies, U.S. Air Force Academy (2018-2019)

Selected Participant, Columbia University Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies, Summer Workshop on Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy (SWAMOS), Hosted at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (2018)

Co-Inventor, U.S. Patent Application No. #62477355 (Air Force Invention Number AFD-1643), Soft Anti-Ballistics Composite Armor (with Hayley Weir). Patent Pending.

Outstanding Academy Educator, U.S. Air Force Academy (2017-2018)

Department of Homeland Security, Science and Technology Directorate, Center of Innovation, “Assessing Anti-Ballistics Capabilities of Non Newtonian Fluids and Aramid Fiber Composites,” $14,500 (2017)

Selected Participant, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, Phillip Merrill Center for Strategic Studies Basin Harbor Teachers’ Workshop, Basin Harbor, VT (2017)

United States Marine Corps Systems Command, “Assessing Anti-Ballistics Capabilities of Non Newtonian Fluids and Fiber Composites,” $7,000 (2016-2017)

Allen E. Dorn Award, U.S. Air Force Academy, Outstanding Researcher of the Year (2016-2017)

Department of Defense, Postdoctoral Fellowship, Strategic Studies Institute – External Research Associates Program, “Investigating the Benefits and Drawbacks of Realigning the National Guard under the Department of Homeland Security,” $29,248, (2015)

University Dissertation Fellowship, University of Delaware. $36,000 (2014–2015)

Winning Essay, Annual Essay Competition, Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) (2014)

Winning Essay, Graduate Student Case Study Competition, American Society for Public Administration (ASPA), Center for Accountability and Performance (2014)

Department of Defense, Strategic Studies Institute – External Research Associates Program, “Towards a Unified Military Response: Hurricane Sandy and the Dual Status Commander,” $18,000 (2013-2014)

Department of Defense, Strategic Studies Institute – External Research Associates Program, “Maturing Defense Support of Civil Authorities through the Lens of Process Improvement,” $18,000 (2013-2014)

Academic Merit Scholarship, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration, University of Delaware (2013)

Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (2011)

Homeland Security Award (top overall graduate), Criminal Justice and Public Safety Institute, College of Arts and Sciences, Saint Joseph’s University (2011)

Alpha Epsilon Lambda, National Graduate Honor Society (2011)

Alpha Phi Sigma, National Criminal Justice Honor Society (2007)

Honor Graduate, USMC Officer Candidates School (2006)

General Society of the War of 1812 Outstanding ROTC Student Award (2005)

Polar Region defense and security

Security Force Assistance in Weak States

Civil-military relations

Domestic military operations