J. Matthew Vaccaro - Institute for Security Governance

Senior Principal

Peace & Security Division

Mr. Matt Vaccaro joined the Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) in April 2019 when the Center for Civil-Military Relations (CCMR) was realigned as DSCA’s Institute for Security Governance (ISG). Within the Institute, he leads the functional group which contains the Institute’s teams for Cyberspace Security; Maritime Security; Emergency Preparedness and Resilience; Combatting Terrorism and Irregular Warfare; Conflict, Prevention, and Recovery; and Peacekeeping and Exercises. His personal advising and education expertise is in the fields of national security decision-making, governance capacity building, and conflict management.

Mr. Vaccaro began his career as an Army officer in the 10th Mountain Division in the early 1990s. Subsequently, as a civil servant, he has served as Director for Multilateral and Humanitarian Affairs on the National Security Council Staff and Director of the Office of Peace Operations in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as well as action officer positions in the Pentagon and analysis roles at a research firm and think tank.

From 2003 to 2019, he served in various faculty and leadership positions within CCMR at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) helping partner countries manage governance and political violence challenges.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations and a Master of Arts in International Policy Studies from Stanford University. Mr. Vaccaro and his wife have two teenage children.