Raised in Wyoming and a graduate of Rock Springs High School, Shane Reeves serves as the 29th President of the University of Wyoming. Prior to his appointment as President, he retired from the Army as a Brigadier General, most recently serving as the 15th Dean of the Academic Board at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he led the Academy’s academic enterprise and served as its chief academic officer. He oversaw more than 800 faculty and staff across 13 departments, managed a budget of approximately $80 million, and guided a curriculum spanning 36 majors and 14 minors. A respected leader, educator, and legal scholar, he has built a career defined by service, innovation, and a deep commitment to developing leaders of character. His experience speaks directly to the work of a public university: teaching and mentoring undergraduates, developing faculty, growing research and partnerships, and aligning academic programs with the needs of students and the state they serve.
A 1996 graduate of West Point, he began his Army career as an Armor officer in the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, leading soldiers at the platoon and troop levels. Selected for the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program, he earned his J.D. from the College of William & Mary, graduating in the top ten percent of his class and serving on Law Review, before completing an LL.M. in Military Law at The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School. As a Judge Advocate, he served as Chief of Legal Assistance at Fort Riley, Brigade Judge Advocate in Iraq with the 1st Armored Division, Senior Trial Counsel with the 1st Infantry Division, and Deputy Legal Advisor at Joint Special Operations Command. His service was recognized with the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, and the Bronze Star.
He has spent more than a decade shaping legal and strategic thinking at West Point. As Head of the Department of Law, he founded the Lieber Institute for Law and Land Warfare, now a global hub for scholarship on the law of armed conflict, and co-founded Articles of War, an influential platform for national security practitioners and scholars. He also taught constitutional, military, international, and operational law; mentored students and faculty; and directed core academic programs. That record earned him an appointment as a Professor at the United States Military Academy, a permanent chair confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and West Point named him Professor Emeritus of Law upon his retirement.
As Dean, he led the Academy through its most significant academic modernization in more than thirty years, strengthening interdisciplinary learning and intellectual agility. He established the West Point Press, the Academy’s first publishing arm in its 224-year history and, in partnership with the Association of Graduates, helped secure an $18 million endowment to support scholarly work. He also founded the West Point Werx Innovation Hub and laid the groundwork for a large-scale Technology Integration Complex. These efforts advanced faculty research and scholarship. Externally funded work and partnerships across the Department of Defense, industry, and academia also grew during his tenure. The Hub now provides a focal point for applied scholarship and experimentation, enabling cadets and faculty to engage directly with real-world problems facing the Army and the nation.
Altogether, his leadership has helped secure more than $135 million in donor support and fueled major facility upgrades exceeding $1 billion. A prolific writer with over 35 publications, his scholarship has appeared in the Harvard National Security Journal, Harvard International Review, Texas Law Review, Marquette Law Review, and other leading journals. His commentary has been featured in Foreign Policy, Lawfare, Just Security, and War on the Rocks. He served as Managing Editor of the Oxford University Press Lieber Studies series and has edited foundational texts on U.S. military operations and the law.
A sought-after speaker and moderator, he has presented to the Federal Judges Association, Columbia Law School, UC Berkeley, the World Governments Summit in Dubai, AUSA, SXSW, and audiences around the world. Through his podcast, Inside West Point: Ideas That Impact, and a series of fireside chats, he elevated the intellectual capital of the academy’s scholars and brought in prominent leaders to spark learning. Guests included Chief Justice John Roberts, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, retired Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, technology entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Palmer Luckey, and Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
He is admitted to practice before the Virginia State Bar, the Supreme Court of the United States, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. He is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has earned honors including the Order of St. George (Bronze Medallion) and NATO’s Serge Lazareff Prize.
Before relocating to Laramie in 2026, he and his wife, Kimberly, called West Point home for 15 years. They have three children.
The University of Wyoming has earned its Research Level 1 (R1) status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, placing Wyoming's only four-year university with the top research universities in the United States.