Josef Wolpert knew early that he wanted to understand how the world works when it comes to power, conflict, and security. As a graduating senior in George Mason University’s International Security and Law undergraduate program at the Schar School of Policy and Government, he has already begun carving out a path that blends academic rigor, regional expertise, and an unusually global perspective for someone his age.
He’s 18. He will, he said, “barely be turning 19 when I get my degree” in May.
When he began looking at universities in Virginia, several options were on the table. What ultimately drew him to George Mason was proximity—to Washington, D.C., to opportunity, and to practitioners.
“It seems like all the professors that are former FBI, CIA, DIA—whatever you want, they have it here,” he said. “If I’m going to follow this track, I want to be surrounded by those kinds of people.”
The decision has shaped his academic experience. Wolpert transferred to George Mason as a junior after completing two associate degrees at John Tyler Community College (now Brightpoint Community College) near his hometown of Richmond, Virginia. He entered one of the first cohorts of the International Security and Law Program, a one-of-a-kind degree program that prepares graduates to become leaders in the face of security threats, from weather disasters to cyberattacks to nuclear proliferation and more.
The program’s applied focus, Wolpert said, confirmed that he had chosen the right field—and the right place.
“That was mostly the deciding factor,” he said. “Just the amazing faculty that the Schar School has.”
Within international security, Wolpert’s interests have narrowed toward Russia, Eurasia, and cybersecurity, an emphasis shaped by both language and lived experience. Fluent in German as well as his native English, Wolpert studied abroad in Kazakhstan through the U.S. Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth, spending a summer immersed in Russian-language study and regional context.
That experience continues to inform his academic work. When he does research regarding Russia, he does it in Russian, which, he said, “is very helpful; it gives me an edge.”
That edge was on display in a recent op-ed he authored and published with the encouragement of Schar School Associate Professor Mahmut Cengiz, a renowned terrorism scholar and a research professor at the Schar School’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. The assignment asked students to examine a threat to American security; Wolpert focused on Russia and cybersecurity, drawing on coursework, language skills, and personal networks.
The resulting essay, ”Russian Cyberwarfare Doctrine and America’s Counterstrategy,” was published in January by Modern Diplomacy, an international journal of global policy and academic analysis based in Bulgaria.
"Looking ahead five years,” said Cengiz, “I would not be surprised to see Josef serving as a security analyst or policy advisor focused on European and Eurasian affairs, where his German- and Russian-language skills, intellectual seriousness, and creative discipline will allow him to bridge analysis, strategy, and diplomacy."
As his undergraduate career winds down, Wolpert is weighing graduate school options, with the Schar School’s top-rated international security program at the top of his list.
“That’s my dream program,” he said.
When he is not studying and preparing for his future, Wolpert plays cello—and just about every other stringed instrument that crosses his peripatetic path.
“Music has always been a really big part of my life,” he said. “I really excelled at cello, and I’ve played in orchestras. I’ve met [famed cellist] Yo-Yo Ma on several occasions.”
Wolpert’s musical expertise goes beyond the cello.
“I’ve picked up several other instruments,” Wolpert said. “When I went to Kazakhstan, I picked up dombra, basically a two-stringed guitar. I also know how to play balalaika, which is a Russian three-stringed guitar. If I go somewhere and they have a local instrument, I always pick one up and figure out how to play it.”