The University of Pennsylvania’s Center for Ethics and the Rule of Law (CERL) is pleased to welcome to its Executive Board Mary McInnis Boies, who brings decades of leadership in law and national security to advance CERL’s mission of preserving and promoting ethics and the rule of law in national security, warfare, and democratic governance.

Mary McInnis Boies is Counsel to Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, where she focuses on antitrust and corporate commercial litigation. She has significant experience advising companies on complex commercial litigation and is also a respected authority on matters relating to international affairs, governance, and national security.

“It is a tremendous honor to join CERL’s Executive Board,” said Ms. Boies. “In a highly skilled and nonpartisan manner, CERL experts address national security issues that are central to our time, such as legal dimensions of Middle East conflicts, infrastructure targeting, human control of lethality, and the use of artificial intelligence.”

For over 30 years, Ms. Boies was founder and managing partner at Boies & McInnis LLP. Previously, she served as Vice President at CBS Inc., General Counsel of the U.S. Civil Aeronautics Board, Assistant Director of the Domestic Policy Staff at the White House, and Counsel to the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce.

She has also held numerous board and advisory roles with organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations, MIT’s Center for International Studies Advisory Committee, Harvard Kennedy School, the International Rescue Committee, and U.S. Air Force institutions. 

“I am thrilled to welcome Mary Boies to the CERL Executive Board,” said Claire Finkelstein, faculty director of CERL. “A brilliant lawyer, with deep knowledge of U.S. national security law and policy, Mary will be a wonderful partner for CERL’s illustrious roster of experts focused on the Middle East conflict, military law and ethics, and other topics in national security law. I look forward to working with her!”

“I join CERL in welcoming Mary Boies to the Executive Board,” said Gary Deutsch, acting chair of the board. “Mary brings a wealth of experience and expertise in business and national security, and we look forward to working with her to advance the Center’s efforts to preserve and promote ethics and the rule of law.”

Ms. Boies’ appointment brings the CERL Executive Board to 26 members and two emeriti drawn from academia, business, the legal profession, the military, and the intelligence community. A list of current members can be found here.