SEC Names Judge Margaret Ryan as Division of Enforcement Director
Judge Margaret “Meg” Ryan has been named director of the Division of Enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, effective Sept. 2, 2025. Sam Waldon, acting director of enforcement, will return to his previous role as chief counsel for the division.
“I am thrilled to welcome Judge Ryan to the SEC,” said Paul S. Atkins, chairman of the SEC. “She brings to the commission decades of experience as a respected judge and practitioner of the law. She is fulfilling a critical role. Judge Ryan will lead the division guided by Congress’ original intent: enforcing the securities laws, particularly as they relate to fraud and manipulation.”
Judge Ryan is a senior judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. She was nominated to the court in 2006 by President George W. Bush, was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, and served the entirety of her term through July 2020. She reached senior status in August 2020.
Judge Ryan currently is a lecturer on military law and justice at Harvard University Law School. She was a visiting professor at Notre Dame Law School and lecturer at The George Washington University Law School.
“It is my honor to join the Commission as director of the Division of Enforcement,” said Judge Ryan. “I look forward to joining the Commission in its important work to ensure that the division is true to the SEC’s mission in taking action on behalf of investors harmed by those who break the securities laws and providing an effective deterrent against fraudulent and manipulative activities in our financial markets.”
Before her tenure as judge, she was a partner at two law firms, Wiley Rein & Fielding and Bartlit Beck Herman Palenchar & Scott. She previously served as a law clerk to Supreme Court of the United States Associate Justice Clarence Thomas and to Judge J. Michael Luttig of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
Following law school, Judge Ryan was a judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps and earlier in her career was an active-duty USMC communications officer including deployments to the Philippines and Desert Shield/Desert Storm. She served as aide-de-camp to Marine Corps Commandant General Charles C. Krulak from 1997 to 1999.
Judge Ryan received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Knox College and a juris doctorate from the University of Notre Dame Law School, where she graduated first in her class and was an editorial board member of the Notre Dame Law Review. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute.
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