Meryl Chertoff, JD

Meryl Chertoff is executive director of the Georgetown Project on State and Local Government Policy and Law (SALPAL) and an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown Law. From 2009 to 2019, she was executive director of The Aspen Institute’s Justice and Society Program. Among her notable work at Aspen was direction of seminars for judges, lawyers, and state government officials; creation of the Inclusive America Project; and direction of the Sandra Day O'Connor Conversation. She also contributes to The Hill and other publications.

Chertoff has held a variety of positions related to New Jersey state government. She was director of the State of New Jersey's Washington Office, served on the legislative staff of a New Jersey Assembly leader, and worked as a lobbyist in Trenton. She worked in the Office of Legislative Affairs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), participating in the agency’s transition into the Department of Homeland Security in 2003.

From 2006 to 2009, Chertoff directed the Sandra Day O'Connor Project at Georgetown Law, which advanced judicial independence and civic education.

Chertoff is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School and served as a law clerk to U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson (M.D. Ala).