Lawrence Korb, an American attorney and assistant secretary of defense from 1981 to 1985, died on April 20, 2026.
He was 86. Korb was a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information.
He also served as director of national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. Born in New York City on July 9, 1939, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the Athenaeum of Ohio in 1961 and a master’s degree from St. John’s University in 1962. He joined the U.S. Navy in 1962, served four years on active duty as a naval flight officer, and later retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of captain.
Lawrence Korb, 86, American attorney, assistant secretary of defense (1981–1985).