Ralph Clarke Nash

Ralph C. Nash, Jr., is Professor Emeritus of Law at GW Law, from which he retired in 1993. He founded the Government Contracts Program of the university's National Law Center in 1960, was Director of the Program from 1960 to 1966 and from 1979 to 1984, and continues to be actively involved in the Program. He was Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, Research and Projects, of the Law Center from 1966 to 1972.

Professor Nash has specialized in the area of government procurement law. He worked for the Navy as a contract negotiator from 1953 to 1959, and for the American Machine and Foundry Company as Assistant Manager of Contracts and Counsel during 1959 and 1960.

He graduated magna cum laude with an A.B. degree from Princeton University in 1953, and earned his Juris Doctor degree from The George Washington University Law School in 1957. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Alpha Delta, and the Order of the Coif.

Professor Nash is active as a consultant for government agencies, private corporations, and law firms on government contract matters. In recent years, he has served widely as neutral advisor or mediator/arbitrator in alternate dispute resolution proceedings. He is active in the Public Contracts Section of the American Bar Association, is a member of the Procurement Round Table, and is a Fellow and serves on the Board of Advisors of the National Contract Management Association. 

During the 1990s, Professor Nash was active in the field of acquisition reform. He served on the "Section 800 Panel" that recommended revisions to all laws affecting Department of Defense procurement, the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Acquisition Reform, and the Blue Ribbon Panel of the Federal Aviation Administration.

He was the co-author with John Cibinic, Jr. of a casebook, Federal Procurement Law (3d ed., Volume I, 1977, and Volume II, 1980). He and Professor Cibinic also co-authored five textbooks: Formation of Government Contracts (4th ed. 2011, with Christopher Yukins), Administration of Government Contracts (4th ed. 2006, with James Nagle), Cost Reimbursement Contracting (3d ed. 2004), Government Contract Claims (1981) and Competitive Negotiation: The Source Selection Process (3d ed. 2011, with Karen O’Brien-DeBakey). He is co-author with Leonard Rawicz of the textbook Intellectual Property in Government Contracts (6th ed. 2008), co-author with seven other authors of the textbook Construction Contracting (1991), co-author with Vernon Edwards, Steven L. Schooner and Karen O’Brien-DeBakey of The Government Contracts Reference Book (3d ed. 2007), and co-author with Steven Feldman of Government Contract Changes (3d ed. 2007). He has written several monographs for The George Washington University Government Contracts Program monograph series, and has published articles in various law reviews and journals. Since 1987 he has been coauthor of a monthly analytical report on government contract issues, "The Nash & Cibinic Report."