Gatha Manns Creates Scholarship in Her Will

Gatha LaFaye Manns, JD, LLM, had already been a Navy lawyer for more than a decade when she got her LLM degree in international and environmental law from The George Washington University Law School—and went on to participate in some of the biggest military cases of recent times, including as a prosecutor of the alleged architect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Now she is giving back to GW Law with a scholarship that will be funded through her will.

“GW Law is a wonderful institution, and I knew even when I was attending that I wanted to create a scholarship someday,” Gatha said.

As a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps, Gatha was offered the opportunity to further her education at either a military or civilian college. She chose GW Law, attending in 2008-09 and eventually earning her LLM in 2011 while working full-time.

“GW Law is accustomed to having military officers as students and offers a lot of respect and regard for what we do,” Gatha said. “It was the perfect situation for me at that stage of my career. The Navy wanted me to study environmental law, and I added the international piece.”

Gatha grew up in Texas and attended Baylor University on a basketball scholarship, continuing there for her JD degree. She is also creating a scholarship for the Baylor Law School.

“I am not a gazillionaire,” she said, “but these are small things I can do to help.”