Rate My Professor Abi Linnington

Abigail Linnington is the Robert L. Pfaltzgraff, Jr. Professor of International Security and Associate Dean of Curriculum in the International Security Studies Program at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where she also serves as Director of the program. She teaches courses on national security decision making, strategy and grand strategy, civil resistance, and security sector reform. In 2022, she received the James L. Paddock Teaching Award from Fletcher students for excellence in teaching. Linnington earned her Bachelor of Science in international relations from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1995, Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from Fletcher in 2004, and Doctor of Philosophy in international relations from Fletcher in 2013. Her research interests include U.S. national security policy, international interventions, state and institution building, roles and missions of U.S. armed forces, contemporary military strategy and planning, and civil-military relations.

Prior to joining Fletcher in 2019 as Professor of the Practice in International Security Studies, Linnington served 25 years in the U.S. Army, retiring at the rank of Colonel as a military strategist and aviator qualified in UH-60 Blackhawk and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. She commanded units in the XVIII Airborne Corps, 3rd Infantry Division in Savannah, Georgia, and Eighth U.S. Army in the Republic of Korea. Key roles included special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of the Chairman's Action Group from 2016 to 2018, advisor in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy on war plans related to European security and U.S. special operations, leader of the analysis and speechwriting team for the U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 2012 to 2014, participant in interagency policy reviews on the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan in 2008 and 2009, and advisor to the Commander of Combined Joint Interagency Task Force-435 (Rule of Law) in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2011. She previously taught at National Defense University as a senior fellow at the Institute for National Strategic Studies and visiting faculty at the Eisenhower School and College of International Security Affairs, and taught international relations at West Point from 2004 to 2007. Her honors include two Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, and the 2017 Tufts Alumni Distinguished Achievement Award.