Will Gunn, the United States counsel for Guantanamo Bay detainees, will speak on Wednesday, April 15, at 6:30 p.m. in the D.P. Culp University Center at East Tennessee State University.
During his free public presentation in the Martha Street Culp Auditorium, Gunn will discuss the treatment of detainees and the government’s decision to relocate them.
President Barack Obama recently nominated Gunn to serve as general counsel for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A recipient of the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Career Military Lawyer Award, Gunn is an attorney representing military clients and veterans through his private practice in Alexandria, Va. He retired in 2005 with the rank of colonel from the Judge Advocate Generals (JAG) Corps. In 2003, Gunn was named the first chief defense counsel in the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. He supervised all defense activities for detainees selected for military trial.
The Florida native is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School, where he was elected president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. In addition, he received a Master of Laws degree in environmental law from the George Washington University School of Law and an M.S. degree in national resource strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces.
Gunn chairs the American Bar Association’s Commission on Youth at Risk, serves on the board of Christian Service Charities, and, in 2005, he was named president and CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington. He has been featured in The New Yorker magazine and The Wall Street Journal and has received numerous honors and awards.
The event is sponsored by the ETSU African and African American Studies program.

Author