RAND Corporation

{{Short description|American global policy think tank}} {{Distinguish|American Research and Development Corporation}} {{Redirect|RAND|other uses|Rand (disambiguation)}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox organization | name = The RAND Corporation | native_name = | image = 200px<br/><br/>200px | image_alt = | caption = Headquarters in Santa Monica, California | map = | map_size = | map_alt = | map_caption = | map2 = | map2_size = | map2_alt = | map2_caption = | abbreviation = | predecessor = Spin-off of Project RAND, a former partnership between Douglas Aircraft Company and the United States Air Force until incorporation as a nonprofit, and gaining independence from both. | successor = | formation = {{start date and age|1948|05|14}} | founders = {{Plain list| * Franklin R. Collbohm * Henry H. "Hap" Arnold * Donald Douglas * Curtis LeMay }} | extinction =  | merger = | type = Global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm<ref name="Medvetz">{{Cite book |last1=Medvetz |first1=Thomas |date=2012 |title=Think Tanks in America |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kuh_VuW1WisC&pg=PA26 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-51729-2 |page=26 |access-date=25 April 2015 |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529050844/https://books.google.com/books?id=kuh_VuW1WisC&pg=PA26#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> | tax_id = 95-1958142  | registration_id =  | status = Nonprofit corporation | purpose = {{Plain list| * Policy analysis * Research and development }} | headquarters = Santa Monica, California, U.S. | location = | coordinates = {{Coord|34.009599|-118.490670|type:landmark_region:US-CA|display=inline,title}}  | region_served = Worldwide | services = | products = | methods = | fields = | num_members = | num_members_year = | language = | owner =  | secretary_general = | leader_title = President and CEO | leader_name = Jason Gaverick Matheny<ref name=RANDleadership>{{cite web |title=RAND Leadership |url=https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/07.html |publisher=RAND |access-date=8 June 2022 |archive-date=7 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607194337/https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/07.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | leader_title2 = RAND Leadership | leader_name2 = {{Plain list| * Jennifer Gould * Andrew R. Hoehn * Mike Januzik * Eric Peltz * Melissa Rowe * Robert M. Case<ref name=RANDleadership/> }} | leader_title3 = President, RAND Europe | leader_name3 = Hans Pung<ref name=RANDleadership/> | board_of_directors = * Michael E. Leiter (Chair) * Teresa Wynn Roseborough (Vice Chair) * Joel Z. Hyatt * Peter Lowy * Michael Lynton * Mary E. Peters * David L. Porges * Donald B. Rice (Emeritus) * Leonard D. Schaeffer<ref name=RANDBoT>{{cite web |title=RAND Board of Trustees |url=https://www.rand.org/about/organization/randtrustees.html |publisher=RAND |access-date=16 January 2015 |archive-date=31 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331070226/https://www.rand.org/about/organization/randtrustees.html |url-status=live }}</ref> | key_people = | main_organ = | parent_organization = | subsidiaries = RAND Europe<br/>Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School | affiliations = Independent | budget = | budget_year = | revenue = {{increase}} $514 million (2024)<ref name="finstatement"/> | disbursements = [https://www.rand.org/about/clients_grantors.html#us-government- Numerous] | expenses = {{increase}} $464 million (2024)<ref name="finstatement"/> | endowment = {{increase}} $330 million (2024)<ref name="finstatement"/> | num_staff = 2,000 (2024)<ref>{{cite book |title=RAND. Annual report 2024 |date=2025 |page=2 |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1000/CPA1065-5/RAND_CPA1065-5.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250131103607/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1000/CPA1065-5/RAND_CPA1065-5.pdf |archive-date=31 January 2025}}</ref> | num_staff_year = | num_volunteers = | num_volunteers_year = | mission = | website = {{Official URL}} | remarks = | former_name = | footnotes = }}

'''The RAND Corporation''', doing business as '''RAND''',<ref name="Fallon">{{cite web |last1=Fallon |first1=Richard |last2=Arterbery |first2=Vivian J. |title=Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of The RAND Corporation |url=https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/api/report/GetImageByNum/080188180100129127209022229018082042147063144246 |website=bizfile California |publisher=California Secretary of State |access-date=April 15, 2025 |date=April 19, 2010}}</ref> is an American nonprofit global policy think tank,<ref name="Medvetz" /> research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the 1950s, RAND research has helped inform United States policy decisions on a wide variety of issues, including the Cold War space race, the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, the U.S.–Soviet nuclear arms confrontation, the creation of the Great Society social welfare programs, and national health care.

RAND originated as "Project RAND" (from the phrase "research and development") in the post-war period immediately after World War II.<ref name="Abella_Page_13">{{cite book |last1=Abella |first1=Alex |title=Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Mariner Books |location=Boston and New York |isbn=978-0-15-603344-2 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA13 |access-date=31 October 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423025436/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA13 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>[https://www.rand.org/about/history/ RAND History and Mission] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100817064548/http://www.rand.org/about/history/ |date=17 August 2010 }}. Accessed 13 April 2009.</ref> The U.S. Army Air Forces established Project RAND with the objective of investigating long-range planning of future weapons.<ref name="SBJohnson">{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=Stephen B.|title=The United States Air Force and the culture of innovation 1945-1965|year=2002|publisher=Diane Publishing Co.|page=32|isbn=978-1-4289-9027-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3HgQp6f9yGQC&pg=PA32|access-date=26 April 2024|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529050853/https://books.google.com/books?id=3HgQp6f9yGQC&pg=PA32|url-status=live}}</ref> The Douglas Aircraft Company was granted a contract to research intercontinental warfare.<ref name="SBJohnson" /> Project RAND later evolved into RAND, and expanded its research into civilian fields such as education and international affairs.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web |title=RAND Corporation - GuideStar Profile |url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-1958142 |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=www.guidestar.org |archive-date=10 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230310220855/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-1958142 |url-status=live }}</ref> It was the first think tank to be regularly referred to as a "think tank".<ref name="Medvetz" />

RAND receives both public and private funding. Its funding sources include the U.S. government, private endowments,<ref name="RANDAnnualReport">{{cite journal |date=10 April 2024 |title=2023 RAND Annual Report |url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1065-4.html |journal=RAND Corporation |access-date=25 April 2024 |archive-date=24 April 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424135611/https://www.rand.org/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1065-4.html |url-status=live }}</ref> corporations,<ref name="RANDfunding"/> universities,<ref name="RANDfunding" /> charitable foundations, U.S. state and local governments, international organizations, and to a small extent, foreign governments.<ref name="RANDfunding" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last1=Monica |first1=1776 Main Street Santa |last2=California 90401-3208 |title=How We Are Funded: Major Clients and Grantmakers of RAND Research |url=https://www.rand.org/about/how-we-are-funded.html |access-date=2023-03-10 |website=www.rand.org |language=en |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223121128/https://www.rand.org/about/how-we-are-funded.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 2024 fiscal year, the think tank's revenues and other support were $514 million,<ref name="finstatement">{{cite web |title=Consolidated Financial Statements Fiscal Years Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 |url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1200/CPA1263/RAND_CPA1263-5.pdf |publisher=RAND Corporation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250506233430/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/corporate_pubs/CPA1200/CPA1263/RAND_CPA1263-5.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2025 |date=26 March 2025}}</ref> of which $328 million was provided by the U.S. federal government.<ref name="RANDfunding">{{cite web |title=How We're Funded |url=https://www.rand.org/about/how-we-are-funded.html |publisher=RAND Corporation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250613032624/https://www.rand.org/about/how-we-are-funded.html#industry |archive-date=13 June 2025}}</ref>

==Overview== RAND has approximately 1,850 employees. Its American locations include: Santa Monica, California (headquarters); Arlington, Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Boston, Massachusetts.<ref name="RANDloc-usa">{{cite web|title=RAND Locations|url=https://www.rand.org/about/locations.html|website=RAND Corp|access-date=10 May 2017|archive-date=28 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228031048/http://www.rand.org/about/locations.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute has an office in New Orleans, Louisiana. RAND Europe is located in Cambridge, United Kingdom; Brussels, Belgium; and The Hague, Netherlands.<ref name="RANDEurope">{{cite web|title=RAND Europe Contact Information|url=https://www.rand.org/randeurope/about/contact.html|website=RAND Corp|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=19 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150119235757/http://www.rand.org/randeurope/about/contact.html|url-status=live}}</ref> RAND Australia is located in Canberra, Australia.<ref name="RANDAussie">{{cite web|title=RAND Locations: Canberra Office|url=https://www.rand.org/about/locations/canberra.html|website=RAND Corp|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=12 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612232426/https://www.rand.org/about/locations/canberra.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

RAND is home to the RAND School of Public Policy, one of eight original graduate schools in public policy and the first to offer a PhD. Its selective doctoral program provides an analytically rigorous and applied curriculum through coursework and collaboration with RAND researchers to address real-world policy challenges. The campus is at RAND's Santa Monica research facility and is the world's largest institution specializing in graduate-level education in policy analysis.<ref name=PardeeRAND>{{cite web|title=Pardee RAND History|url=http://www.prgs.edu/about/at-a-glance.html|website=Pardee RAND Graduate School|access-date=21 February 2014|archive-date=30 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161130064143/http://www.prgs.edu/about/at-a-glance.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

All PhD students receive fellowships to cover their education costs. This allows them to dedicate their time to engage in research projects and provides them with on-the-job training.<ref name=PardeeRAND/> RAND also offers a number of internship and fellowship programs allowing students and others to assist in conducting research for RAND projects.<ref name=RANDglance>{{cite web|title=RAND at a Glance|url=https://www.rand.org/about/glance.html|website=RAND Corp|access-date=31 December 2013|archive-date=30 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830085542/https://www.rand.org/about/glance.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

RAND publishes the ''RAND Journal of Economics'', a peer-reviewed journal of economic sciences.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The RAND Journal of Economics |url=https://www.rje.org/ |access-date=2023-05-21 |website=www.rje.org |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529130044/https://www.rje.org/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Thirty-two recipients of the Nobel Prize, primarily in the fields of economics and physics, have been associated with RAND at some point in their career.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Sarabi|first1=Brigette|title=Oregon: The Rand Report on Measure 11 is Finally Available|url=http://www.safetyandjustice.org/story/oregon-rand-report-measure-11-finally-available|website=Partnership for Safety and Justice (PSJ)|access-date=15 April 2008|date=1 January 2005|archive-date=18 January 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150118215449/http://www.safetyandjustice.org/story/oregon-rand-report-measure-11-finally-available|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | author=Harvard University Institute of Politics | url=http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/iop/students_internships_db.php?action=id&id=551 | title=Guide for Political Internships | publisher=Harvard University | access-date=18 April 2008 | archive-date=20 December 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220013409/http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/iop/students_internships_db.php?action=id&id=551 | url-status=live }}</ref>

==History== ===Project RAND=== RAND was created after individuals in the War Department, the Office of Scientific Research and Development, and industry began to discuss the need for a private organization to connect operational research with research and development decisions.<ref name=RANDglance/> The immediate impetus for the creation of RAND was a conversation in September 1945 between General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and Douglas executive Franklin R. Collbohm.<ref name="Abella_Page_11">{{cite book |last1=Abella |first1=Alex |title=Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Mariner Books |location=Boston and New York |isbn=978-0-15-603344-2 |page=11 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA11 |access-date=31 October 2021 |archive-date=23 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230423023932/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA11 |url-status=live }}</ref> Both men were deeply worried that ongoing demobilization meant the federal government was about to lose direct control of the vast amount of American scientific brainpower assembled to fight World War II.<ref name="Abella_Page_11" />

As soon as Arnold realized Collbohm had been thinking along similar lines, he said, "I know just what you're going to tell me. It's the most important thing we can do."<ref name="Abella_Page_12">{{cite book |last1=Abella |first1=Alex |title=Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire |date=2009 |publisher=Mariner Books |location=Boston and New York |isbn=978-0-15-603344-2 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA12 |access-date=31 October 2021 |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529130045/https://books.google.com/books?id=ERKGMraIfZIC&pg=PA12#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> With Arnold's blessing, Collbohm quickly pulled in additional people from Douglas to help, and together with Donald Douglas, they convened with Arnold two days later at Hamilton Army Airfield to sketch out a general outline for Collbohm's proposed project.<ref name="Abella_Page_12" />

Douglas engineer Arthur Emmons Raymond came up with the name Project RAND, from "research and development".<ref name="Abella_Page_13" /> Collbohm suggested that he himself should serve as the project's first director, which he thought would be a temporary position while he searched for a permanent replacement for himself.<ref name="Abella_Page_13" /> He later became RAND's first president and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1967.<ref name="Oliver">{{cite news |last1=Oliver |first1=Myrna |title=Franklin Collbohm Dies; Founder of RAND Corp. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-14-mn-573-story.html |access-date=17 November 2021 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=14 February 1990 |archive-date=17 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211117133312/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-02-14-mn-573-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 1 October 1945, Project RAND was set up under special contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company and began operations in December 1945.<ref name=RANDglance/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=Stephen B |title=The United States Air Force and the Culture of Innovation 1945-1965 |date=2002 |publisher=Diane Publishing |isbn=978-1-4289-9027-2 |page=32 |url=http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100526-019.pdf |access-date=16 January 2015 |archive-date=23 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161123160934/http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-100526-019.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> In May 1946, the ''Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship'' was released.

===RAND=== By late 1947, Douglas Aircraft executives had expressed their concerns that their close relationship with RAND might create conflict of interest problems on future hardware contracts. In February 1948, the chief of staff of the newly created United States Air Force approved the evolution of Project RAND into a nonprofit corporation, independent of Douglas.<ref name=RANDglance/>

On 14 May 1948, RAND was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under the laws of the State of California and on 1 November 1948, the Project RAND contract was formally transferred from the Douglas Aircraft Company to RAND.<ref name=RANDglance/> Initial capital for the spin-off was provided by the Ford Foundation.

Since the 1950s, RAND research has helped inform United States policy decisions on a wide variety of issues, including the space race, the Vietnam War, the U.S.–Soviet nuclear arms confrontation, the creation of the Great Society social welfare programs, the digital revolution, and national health care.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jardini|first=David R.|title=Thinking Through the Cold War: RAND, National Security and Domestic Policy, 1945-1975|year=2013|page=10|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/352765|access-date=13 September 2013|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529130046/https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/352765|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 1970s, New York City used RAND's computer models to determine which fire stations to close. Most of the closed stations were in relatively poor areas, such as South Bronx or Lower East Side.<ref>{{cite book |last=Flood |first=Joe |title=The Fires: How a Computer Formula, Big Ideas, and the Best of Intentions Burned Down New York City--and Determined the Future of Cities |year=2011 |page=205 }}</ref>

RAND contributed to the doctrine of nuclear deterrence by mutually assured destruction (MAD), developed under the guidance of then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and based upon their work with game theory.<ref>{{cite book|last=Twing|first=Steven W.|title=Myths, models & U.S. foreign policy|publisher=Lynne Rienner Publishers|year=1998|isbn=1-55587-766-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wS4A2jJph_cC&pg=PA163|access-date=8 January 2016|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529050845/https://books.google.com/books?id=wS4A2jJph_cC&pg=PA163#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Chief strategist Herman Kahn also posited the idea of a "winnable" nuclear exchange in his 1960 book ''On Thermonuclear War''. This led to Kahn's being one of the models for the titular character of the film ''Dr. Strangelove'', in which RAND is spoofed as the "BLAND Corporation".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-week-in-radio-the-think-tank-for-unthinkable-thoughts-765975.html |title=The Week In Radio: The think tank for unthinkable thoughts |last=Hanks |first=Robert |date=19 December 2007 |work=The Independent |location=London |access-date=24 June 2009 |archive-date=16 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090916183217/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/the-week-in-radio-the-think-tank-for-unthinkable-thoughts-765975.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/movies/10kapl.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1 |title=Truth Stranger Than 'Strangelove' |last=Kaplan |first=Fred |author-link=Fred Kaplan (journalist) |date=10 October 2004 |work=The New York Times |access-date=24 June 2009 |archive-date=11 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511170700/http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/10/movies/10kapl.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Even in the late 1940s and early 1950s, long before Sputnik, the RAND project was secretly recommending to the US government a major effort to design a human-made satellite that would take photographs from space and the rockets to put such a satellite in orbit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thespacereview.com/article/396/1|title=The Space Review: LBJ's Space Race: What we didn't know then (Part 1)|access-date=5 April 2021|archive-date=30 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220830085536/https://www.thespacereview.com/article/396/1|url-status=live}}</ref>

RAND was not the first think tank, but during the 1960s, it was the first to be regularly referred to as a "think tank".<ref name="Medvetz" /> Accordingly, RAND served as the "prototype" for the modern definition of that term.<ref name="Medvetz" />

In the early 1990s, RAND established a European branch to serve clients across the public, private, and third sectors, including governments, charities, and corporations. RAND Europe is the European arm of RAND, and like its main branch, it is a nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to improving decision-making through evidence-based research and analysis. RAND Europe's stated mission is to improve policy and decision-making through rigorous, independent research. RAND Europe is incorporated in, and has offices in, Cambridge, The Hague, and Brussels.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RAND Europe |url=https://securitydelta.nl/partners/overview-partners/rand-europe |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=securitydelta.nl |language=en-gb}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=About RAND Europe |url=https://www.rand.org/randeurope/about.html }}</ref>

==Research== [[Image:RANDPittsburgh.jpg|thumb|RAND, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] The research of RAND stems from its development of systems analysis. Important contributions are claimed in space systems and the United States' space program,<ref name=RANDspacebook>{{cite book |last1=Davies|first1=Merton E.|last2=Hams|first2=William R.|title=RAND's Role in the Evolution of Balloon and Satellite Observation Systems and Related U.S. Space Technology|date=September 1988|publisher=RAND Corp|url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a216963.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002423/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a216963.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=4 March 2016|access-date=16 January 2015}}</ref> in computing and in artificial intelligence. RAND researchers developed many of the principles that were used to build the Internet.<ref>{{cite web|title=Paul Baran - Posthumous Recipient|url=http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/paul-baran|website=Internet Hall of Fame|publisher=Internet Society|access-date=16 January 2015|date=2012|archive-date=20 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220092629/http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/paul-baran|url-status=live}}</ref> RAND also contributed to the development and use of wargaming.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Perla|first1=Peter P.|title=The Art of Wargaming: A Guide for Professionals and Hobbyists|date=1990|publisher=Naval Institute Press|location=Annapolis, Md.|isbn=0-87021-050-5|pages=114–118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_sjPhgaEzwC&q=RAND+contribution+to+wargaming&pg=PA116|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529050846/https://books.google.com/books?id=C_sjPhgaEzwC&q=RAND+contribution+to+wargaming&pg=PA116|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Perry|first1=Walter L.|last2=Pirnie|first2=Bruce R.|last3=Gordon|first3=John|title=Issues Raised During the 1998 Army After Next Spring Wargame|date=1999|publisher=RAND|location=Santa Monica, CA|isbn=0-8330-2688-7|url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1023.html|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=18 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141018023849/http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1023.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Current areas of expertise include: child policy, law, civil and criminal justice, education, health (public health and health care), international policy/foreign policy, labor markets, national security, defense policy, infrastructure, energy, environment, business and corporate governance, economic development, intelligence policy, long-range planning, crisis management and emergency management-disaster preparation, population studies, regional studies, comparative studies, science and technology, social policy, welfare, terrorism and counterterrorism, cultural policy, arts policy, and transportation.<ref name=RANDpolicyexperts>{{cite web|title=Policy Experts|url=https://www.rand.org/about/people.html|website=RAND Corp|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529130047/https://www.rand.org/about/people.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":12" />

=== Defense and national security === During the Cold War, RAND researchers contributed to the development of nuclear strategy concepts such as deterrence theory and mutually assured destruction.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Long |first=Austin |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/mg636osd-af |title=Deterrence—From Cold War to Long War: Lessons from Six Decades of RAND Research |date=2008 |publisher=RAND Corporation |isbn=978-0-8330-4482-2 |edition=1 |jstor=10.7249/mg636osd-af }}</ref> In recent years, RAND has analyzed military readiness, force modernization, and counterterrorism strategies. For example, one study examined the effectiveness of counterinsurgency operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2010-10-13 |title=Rethinking Counterinsurgency: RAND Counterinsurgency Study, vol. 5 |url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/SSQ/Book-Reviews/Article/1194470/ |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Air University (AU) |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Healthcare and public health === RAND designed and conducted one of the largest and most important studies of health insurance between 1974 and 1982. The RAND Health Insurance Experiment, funded by the then–U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, established an insurance corporation to compare demand for health services with their cost to the patient.<ref name="RANDhie">{{cite web |title=RAND's Health Insurance Experiment (HIE) |url=https://www.rand.org/health/projects/hie.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230041126/http://www.rand.org/health/projects/hie.html |archive-date=30 December 2014 |access-date=16 January 2015 |website=RAND Corp}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Herdman |first1=Roger C. |last2=Behney |first2=Clyde J. |date=September 1993 |title=Chapter 3: The Lessons and Limitations of the Rand Health Insurance Experiment |url=https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1993/9310/9310.PDF |url-status=live |journal=Benefit Design in Health Care Reform: Patient Cost-Sharing |issue=Princeton University |pages=23–38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702105245/http://www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1993/9310/9310.PDF |archive-date=2 July 2017 |access-date=16 January 2015}}</ref>

In 2018, RAND began its Gun Policy in America initiative,<ref>{{cite web |title=Gun Policy |url=https://www.rand.org/topics/gun-policy.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019192805/https://www.rand.org/topics/gun-policy.html |archive-date=19 October 2022 |access-date=19 October 2022}}</ref> which resulted in comprehensive reviews of the evidence of the effects of gun policies in the United States. The second expanded review in 2020<ref name="RANDStudy">[https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2088-1.html The Science of Gun Policy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221019184255/https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2088-1.html|date=19 October 2022}} A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Second Edition</ref> analyzed almost 13,000 relevant studies on guns and gun violence since 1995 and selected 123 as having sufficient methodological rigor for inclusion. These studies were used to evaluate scientific support for eighteen classes of gun policy. The review found supportive evidence that child-access prevention laws reduce firearm self-injuries (including suicides), firearm homicides or assault injuries, and unintentional firearm injuries and deaths among youth. Conversely, it identified that stand-your-ground laws increase firearm homicides and shall-issue concealed carry laws increase total and firearm homicides. RAND also emphasized that the absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=What Science Tells Us About the Effects of Gun Policies |url=https://www.rand.org/research/gun-policy/key-findings/what-science-tells-us-about-the-effects-of-gun-policies.html |access-date=2024-07-13 |website=www.rand.org |language=en}}</ref> Both proponents and opponents of various gun control measures have cited the RAND initiative.<ref name="best_available_2018_03_02_washpost">{{cite news |author1=Christopher Ingraham |date=March 2, 2018 |title=The best available evidence suggests NRA-backed gun policies are making crime worse |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/02/the-best-available-evidence-suggests-nra-backed-gun-policies-are-making-crime-worse/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303021929/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2018/03/02/the-best-available-evidence-suggests-nra-backed-gun-policies-are-making-crime-worse/ |archive-date=March 3, 2018 |access-date=November 24, 2022 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="do_studies_2022_03_31_reason_com">{{cite web |author1=Aaron Brown |author2=Justin Monticello |date=March 31, 2022 |title=Do Studies Show Gun Control Works? No. |url=https://reason.com/video/2022/03/31/do-studies-show-gun-control-works-no/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220331211301/https://reason.com/video/2022/03/31/do-studies-show-gun-control-works-no/ |archive-date=March 31, 2022 |access-date=May 31, 2023 |website=reason.com |publisher=Reason Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="gun_violence_research_2021_03_27_nytimes_com">{{cite web |author1=Sheryl Gay Stolberg |date=March 27, 2021 |title=Can New Gun Violence Research Find a Path Around the Political Stalemate? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/us/politics/gun-violence-research-cdc.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327090145/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/us/politics/gun-violence-research-cdc.html |archive-date=March 27, 2021 |access-date=November 24, 2022 |website=New York Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="Assault Weapons" {{!}} "Large" Magazines |url=https://www.nraila.org/get-the-facts/assault-weapons-large-magazines/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206023807/https://www.nraila.org/get-the-facts/assault-weapons-large-magazines/ |archive-date=February 6, 2018}}</ref>

Additionally, RAND has researched the opioid epidemic and alcoholism.<ref name="alcoholism_1976_08_04_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/04/archives/alcoholism-controversy.html "Alcoholism Controversy,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124105739/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/08/04/archives/alcoholism-controversy.html|date=24 November 2022}} August 4, 1976, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref>

=== Education === The RAND analysis of the Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching, a $575 million initiative from the Gates Foundation to increase teacher effectiveness, found that the interventions had no significant effect on student achievement.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Candid |title=Gates' Teacher Effectiveness Initiative Fell Short, Study Finds |url=https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/gates-teacher-effectiveness-initiative-fell-short-study-finds |access-date=2024-09-22 |website=Philanthropy News Digest (PND) |language=en}}</ref>

=== Emerging technologies and innovation === RAND has examined the implications of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity threats, and autonomous systems. It was accused of working too closely with Open Philanthropy in its work on AI, at the risk of losing its independence.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bordelon |first=Brendan |title=How a billionaire-backed network of AI advisers took over Washington |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/open-philanthropy-funding-ai-policy-00121362 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231013100621/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/open-philanthropy-funding-ai-policy-00121362 |archive-date=October 13, 2023 |website=Politico|date=13 October 2023 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bordelon |first=Brendan |date=December 16, 2023 |title=Think tank tied to tech billionaires played key role in Biden's AI order |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231216121558/https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128 |archive-date=December 16, 2023 |website=Politico}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kessler |first=Andy |title=Opinion {{!}} SBF Faces Prison, but 'Effective Altruism' Lives On |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sbf-faces-prison-but-effective-altruism-lives-on-philanthropy-biden-administration-827d03f2 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240114171721/https://www.wsj.com/articles/sbf-faces-prison-but-effective-altruism-lives-on-philanthropy-biden-administration-827d03f2 |archive-date=January 14, 2024 |access-date=2024-04-02 |work=WSJ |language=en-US}}</ref> RAND employees have expressed concerns to Politico about the organization's objectivity after it was revealed that RAND helped draft the Executive Order on AI, following over $15 million in funding from a Facebook founder-backed Open Philanthropy.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bordelon |first=Brendan |date=December 16, 2023 |title=Think tank tied to tech billionaires played key role in Biden's AI order |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/15/billionaire-backed-think-tank-played-key-role-in-bidens-ai-order-00132128}}</ref> In December 2023, the House Science Committee sent a bipartisan letter to the National Institute of Standards and Technology raising concerns over RAND's "research that has failed to go through robust review processes, such as academic peer review."<ref>{{cite web |date=December 14, 2023 |title=House Science Committee letter to NIST |url=https://democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2023-12-14_AISI%20scientific%20merit_final-signed.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231215221636/https://democrats-science.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2023-12-14_AISI%20scientific%20merit_final-signed.pdf |archive-date=December 15, 2023 |website=House Committee on Science, Space and Technology |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bordelon |first=Brendan |date=December 26, 2023 |title=Congress warns science agency over AI grant to tech-linked think tank |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/26/ai-rand-congress-00133193}}</ref> On September 13, 2024, the ranking member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation sent a letter to RAND to better understand its "involvement in the AI Executive Order and the administration's other actions related to online speech."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cruz |first=Ted |date=September 13, 2024 |title=Letter to Jason Matheny |url=https://www.commerce.senate.gov/services/files/AF082319-C877-47CC-95F6-8240EE6A105D}}</ref>

=== Other research areas === * Auto insurance<ref name="no_fault_laws_2000_consumerwatchdog_org">[https://consumerwatchdog.org/feature/analysis-and-critique-rand-corporations-studies-support-no-fault-laws "An Analysis and Critique of the RAND Corporation's Studies in Support of No Fault Laws,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125121513/https://consumerwatchdog.org/feature/analysis-and-critique-rand-corporations-studies-support-no-fault-laws|date=25 November 2022}} 2000, Consumer Watchdog, retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * City government<ref name="men_who_tell_the_city_1970_07_08_nytimes">Clines, Francis X.: [https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/08/archives/the-men-who-tell-city-how-to-run-the-city.html "The Men Who Tell City How to Run the City,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124112308/https://www.nytimes.com/1970/07/08/archives/the-men-who-tell-city-how-to-run-the-city.html|date=24 November 2022}} July 8, 1970, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="urban_govt_1972_07_policy_sciences_jstor">Szanton, Peter L. (RAND Corporation): [https://www.jstor.org/stable/4531478 "Analysis and Urban Government: Experience of the New York City-Rand Institute,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125140556/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4531478|date=25 November 2022}} July, 1972, ''Policy Sciences,'' Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 153-161, Springer, at Jstor.org, retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="data_in_the_fire_serivce_2015_nfpa_org">[https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Resources/Fire-service/Responder-Forum/2015-NFPA-Responders-Forum-Fire-Service-Data.ashx "Data in the Fire Service,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706071624/https://www.nfpa.org/-/media/Files/News-and-Research/Resources/Fire-service/Responder-Forum/2015-NFPA-Responders-Forum-Fire-Service-Data.ashx|date=6 July 2022}} 2015, NFPA 2015 Responder Forum, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="the_fires_2011_joe_flood_riverhead">Flood, Joe: ''The Fires: How a Computer Formula Burned Down New York City—and Determined the Future of American Cities,'' 2011, Riverhead Books, -- summarized at: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7906964-the-fires GoodReads.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220429215638/https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7906964-the-fires|date=29 April 2022}}, and reviewed at: [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1101610139 GoodReads.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125100031/https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1101610139|date=25 November 2022}} (by Rob Kitchin), and at [https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/media/volume_xy_issue_2_spring_2016.pdf ''Accounts,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204212935/https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/media/volume_xy_issue_2_spring_2016.pdf|date=4 December 2022}} (newsletter of the Economics section of the American Sociological Association), Vol. XV, Issue 2, Spring 2016, page 32, retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * Cold War and potential nuclear conflict<ref name="rand_and_policymakers_1963_09_the_atlantic">Saul Friedman (''Houston Chronicle,'' Nieman Fellow): [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1963/09/the-rand-corporation-and-our-policy-makers/658922/ "The Rand Corporation and Our Policy Makers,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125133517/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1963/09/the-rand-corporation-and-our-policy-makers/658922/ |date=25 November 2022 }} September 1963, ''The Atlantic,'' retrieved November 25, 2022</ref><ref name="wohlstetter_dies_1997_01_14_nytimes_com">[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/14/world/albert-wohlstetter-83-expert-on-us-nuclear-strategy-dies.html "Albert Wohlstetter, 83, Expert On U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Dies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209065836/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/14/world/albert-wohlstetter-83-expert-on-us-nuclear-strategy-dies.html |date=9 December 2022 }}, January 14, 1997, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="the_other_legacy_2016_06_warontherocks_com">Rej, Abhijnan: Commentary: [http://warontherocks.com/2016/06/the-other-legacy-of-robert-mcnamara/ The Other Legacy of Robert McNamara,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529052423/https://warontherocks.com/2016/06/the-other-legacy-of-robert-mcnamara/ |date=29 May 2024 }} June 10, 2016, ''War on the Rocks,'' -- reviewed by Matthew Fay in [https://www.niskanencenter.org/rationalizing-mcnamaras-legacy/ "Rationalizing McNamara's Legacy,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125110930/https://www.niskanencenter.org/rationalizing-mcnamaras-legacy/ |date=25 November 2022 }} August 5, 2016, Niskanen Center; Fay rebutted by RAND representatives John Speed Meyers and Jonathan P. Wong, at [https://www.rand.org/blog/2016/09/in-defense-of-defense-analysis.html "In Defense of Defense Analysis,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125145606/https://www.rand.org/blog/2016/09/in-defense-of-defense-analysis.html |date=25 November 2022 }} September 2, 2016, ''The RAND Blog,'' RAND Corporation; retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="new_world_order_2018_07_24_washingtonpost_com">Wyne, Ali (RAND Corporation) opinion essay: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/07/24/new-world-order/ "A new world order will likely arise only from calamity,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221030204017/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/07/24/new-world-order/ |date=30 October 2022 }} July 24, 2018, ''Washington Post,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * Iraq War<ref name="real_men_of_genius_2008_09_21_washpost" /><ref name="occupation_plan_2008_06_29_nyimes">Gordon, Michael R.: [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/washington/29army.html "Occupation Plan for Iraq Faulted in Army History,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124105743/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/washington/29army.html|date=24 November 2022}} June 29, 2008, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * National health insurance<ref name="the_real_health_issue_1974_06_25_nytimes">[https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/25/archives/the-real-health-issue.html "The Real Health Issue,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124105745/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/25/archives/the-real-health-issue.html|date=24 November 2022}} June 25, 1974, Page 36, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * Vietnam War<ref name="real_men_of_genius_2008_09_21_washpost">Heilbrunn, Jacob: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/07/22/the-insider/3c7f182c-3ea2-4beb-8127-0fb574388ffb/ "Real Men of Genius"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827104036/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/07/22/the-insider/3c7f182c-3ea2-4beb-8127-0fb574388ffb/ |date=27 August 2017 }} (book review of ''Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corp and Rise of the American Empire'' by Alex Abella, 2008, Harcourt), September 21, 2008, ''Washington Post,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="the_insider_2001_07_22_washpost">[https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/07/22/the-insider/3c7f182c-3ea2-4beb-8127-0fb574388ffb/ "The Insider"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170827104036/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/07/22/the-insider/3c7f182c-3ea2-4beb-8127-0fb574388ffb/ |date=27 August 2017 }} (book review of ''Wild Man'' -- biography of Daniel Ellsberg -- by Tom Wells, 2001, Palgrave), July 22, 2001, ''Washington Post,''; also reviewed by Michael Young at [https://reason.com/2002/06/01/the-devil-and-daniel-ellsberg-2/ "The Devil and Daniel Ellsberg,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529052422/https://reason.com/2002/06/01/the-devil-and-daniel-ellsberg-2/ |date=29 May 2024 }} June 2000, ''Reason,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="inside_job_2002_11_03_washpost">Kazin, Michael, reviewer: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2002/11/03/inside-job/d43bacd9-a949-440b-b90a-837e5bc92bd2/ "Inside Job"] (book review of ''Secrets'' -- autobiography of Daniel Ellsberg, 2002, Viking), November 3, 2002, ''Washington Post,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="rand_in_southeast_asia_2010_rand_jstor">Elliot, Mai (Foreword by James A. Thomson, RAND president): [https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/cp564rc ''RAND in Southeast Asia: A History of the Vietnam War Era,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125113251/https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/cp564rc|date=25 November 2022}} 2010, RAND Corporation / Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8330-4754-0}}; reviewed by James M. Carter at [https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/mai-elliott-rand-in-southeast-asia-a-history-of-the-vietnam-war-era-santa-monica-ca-rand-corporation-2010-2867-pp-694-isbn978-0-8330-4754-0/164EB18B0B5C8E677E6613BA6A1118FF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221125113305/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-american-studies/article/abs/mai-elliott-rand-in-southeast-asia-a-history-of-the-vietnam-war-era-santa-monica-ca-rand-corporation-2010-2867-pp-694-isbn978-0-8330-4754-0/164EB18B0B5C8E677E6613BA6A1118FF|date=25 November 2022}} August 2011, ''Journal of American Studies,'' Volume 45, Issue 3, pp. 631 - 633, reproduced at Cambridge University. Retrieved November 24, 2022</ref> * Transparency in government<ref name="federal_warrant_1971_06_26_nytimes">Naughton, James M.: [https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/26/archives/arguments-to-be-heard-today-federal-warrant-is-issued-for-the.html "Federal Warrant Is Issued For the Arrest of Ellsberg,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221124105743/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/26/archives/arguments-to-be-heard-today-federal-warrant-is-issued-for-the.html |date=24 November 2022 }} June 26, 1971, ''New York Times,'' retrieved November 24, 2022</ref><ref name="the_insider_2001_07_22_washpost" /><ref name="inside_job_2002_11_03_washpost" />

==Notable participants==  [[Image:JohnvonNeumann-LosAlamos.gif|thumb|John von Neumann, consultant to RAND<ref>''Life Magazine'', 25 February 1957, "Passing of a Great Mind", by Clay Bair JR. pages 89–104</ref>]] * Henry H. "Hap" Arnold: General of the Air Force, United States Air Force * Kenneth Arrow: economist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics, developed the impossibility theorem in social choice theory * Bruno Augenstein: V.P., physicist, mathematician and space scientist * Robert Aumann: mathematician, game theorist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics. * J. Paul Austin: Chairman of the Board, 1972–1981 * Paul Baran: one of the developers of packet switching which was used in ARPANET and later networks like the Internet * Richard Bellman: Mathematician known for his work on dynamic programming *Yoram Ben-Porat: economist and President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem * Barry Boehm: worked in interactive computer graphics with RAND in the 1960s and had helped define the ARPANET in the early phases of that program<ref>Alex Roland and Philip Shiman, ''Strategic Computing: DARPA and the Quest for Machine Intelligence, 1983–1993'', The MIT Press, 2002, [https://books.google.com/books?id=eD4taFgeTUYC&pg=PA302 p. 302]</ref> * Harold L. Brode: physicist, leading nuclear weapons effects expert * Bernard Brodie: Military strategist and nuclear architect * Samuel Cohen: inventor of the neutron bomb in 1958<ref>Nina Tannenwald, ''The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945'', Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK), 2007, [https://books.google.com/books?id=oTOzgJbf9KkC&pg=PA138 p. 138-139]</ref> * Franklin R. Collbohm: Aviation engineer, Douglas Aircraft Company, RAND founder and former director and trustee.<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/14/obituaries/f-r-collbohm-83-ex-head-of-rand-dies.html |title=F. R. Collbohm, 83, Ex-Head of Rand, Dies |work=The New York Times |date=14 February 1990 |access-date=14 June 2013 |archive-date=11 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511130334/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/02/14/obituaries/f-r-collbohm-83-ex-head-of-rand-dies.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * Walter Cunningham: astronaut * George Dantzig: mathematician, creator of the simplex algorithm for linear programming * Linda Darling-Hammond: educational researcher, co-director, School Redesign Network * Merton Davies: mathematician, pioneering planetary scientist * Michael H. Decker: Senior International Defense Research Analyst<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rand.org/about/people/d/decker_michael_h.html//|title=Michael H. Decker - Profile|access-date=17 September 2021|archive-date=26 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926215431/https://www.rand.org/about/people/d/decker_michael_h.html|url-status=live}}</ref> * Stephen H. Dole: Author of the book ''Habitable Planets for Man''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dole|first1=Stephen H.|title=Habitable Planets for Man|date=2007|publisher=RAND Corp.|location=Santa Monica, CA|isbn=978-0-8330-4227-9|edition=New RAND|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-vPkHgAACAAJ|access-date=16 January 2015|archive-date=29 May 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529051351/https://books.google.com/books?id=-vPkHgAACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=http://rand.org/pubs/commercial_books/CB179-1/ |publisher=RAND Corporation |title=Habitable Planets for man |date=2007 |last1=Dole |first1=Stephen H. |access-date=4 April 2008 |archive-date=4 July 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704155622/http://rand.org/pubs/commercial_books/CB179-1/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and head of Rand's Human Engineering Group<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-30-me-25094-story.html|title=Stephen H. Dole; Retired Head of Rand Corp.'s Human Engineering Group|date=30 April 2000|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=12 September 2016|archive-date=11 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511065649/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/apr/30/local/me-25094|url-status=live}}</ref> * Donald Wills Douglas, Sr.: President, Douglas Aircraft Company, RAND founder * Hubert Dreyfus: philosopher and critic of artificial intelligence * Karen Elliott House: Chairman of the Board, 2009–present, former publisher, ''The Wall Street Journal''; Former Senior Vice President, Dow Jones & Company, Inc. * Daniel Ellsberg: economist and leaker of the Pentagon Papers * Alain Enthoven: economist, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense from 1961 to 1965, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Analysis from 1965 to 1969 *Stephen J. Flanagan, political scientist, National Security Council senior director * Francis Fukuyama: academic and author of ''The End of History and the Last Man'' * Horace Rowan Gaither: Chairman of the Board, 1949–1959, 1960–1961; known for the Gaither Report. * David Galula, French officer and scholar * James J. Gillogly: cryptographer and computer scientist * Paul Y. Hammond: political scientist and national security scholar, affiliated 1964–79, program director 1973–76<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=20658 | title=Obituary: Paul Y. Hammond | publisher=University of Pittsburgh | date=April 5, 2012 | access-date=14 January 2018 | archive-date=23 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923101410/http://www.utimes.pitt.edu/?p=20658 | url-status=live }}</ref> * Anthony C. Hearn: developed the REDUCE computer algebra system, the oldest such system still in active use;<ref>{{cite web|title=Computer Science History|url=http://www.cs.utah.edu/~rma/hci/cs/cs-history.html|website=School of Computing|publisher=University of Utah|access-date=24 August 2017|archive-date=10 December 2000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20001210085700/http://www.cs.utah.edu/~rma/hci/cs/cs-history.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> co-founded the CSNET computer network * Fred Iklé: US nuclear policy researcher * Brian Michael Jenkins: terrorism expert, Senior Advisor to the President of RAND, and author of ''Unconquerable Nation'' * Herman Kahn: theorist on nuclear war and one of the founders of scenario planning and Hudson Institute * Amrom Harry Katz * Konrad Kellen: research analyst and author, co-wrote open letter to U.S. government in 1969 recommending withdrawal from Vietnam war<ref name=LaTimes20070412>{{cite news|last=Noland |first=Claire |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-12-me-kellen12-story.html|title=Konrad Kellen, 93; Rand researcher studied Vietnam War and urged withdrawal of troops|date=12 April 2007|newspaper=Los Angeles Times |access-date=13 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130713083049/http://articles.latimes.com/2007/apr/12/local/me-kellen12 |url-status=live |archive-date=13 July 2013}}</ref> * Zalmay Khalilzad: U.S. ambassador to United Nations * Henry Kissinger: United States Secretary of State (1973–1977); National Security Advisor (1969–1975); Nobel Peace Prize Winner (1973) * Ann McLaughlin Korologos: Chairman of the Board, April 2004 – 2009; Chairman Emeritus, The Aspen Institute * Lewis "Scooter" Libby: United States Vice-president Dick Cheney's former Chief of Staff * Ray Mabus: Former ambassador, governor * Harry Markowitz: economist, greatly advanced financial portfolio theory by devising mean variance analysis, Nobel Prize in Economics * Andrew W. Marshall: military strategist, director of the U.S. DoD Office of Net Assessment * Jason Gaverick Matheny: selected as president and CEO of RAND in 2022<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Monica |first1=1776 Main Street Santa |last2=California 90401-3208 |title=Jason Matheny Named President and CEO of RAND Corporation |url=https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/07.html |access-date=2022-06-07 |website=www.rand.org |language=en |archive-date=8 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608112548/https://www.rand.org/news/press/2022/06/07.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * Margaret Mead: U.S. anthropologist * Douglas Merrill: former Google CIO & President of EMI's digital music division * Newton N. Minow: Chairman of the board, 1970–1972 * John Milnor: mathematician, known for his work in differential topology * Chuck Missler: Bible teacher, engineer, chairman and CEO of Western Digital * Lloyd Morrisett: Chairman of the board, 1986–1995 * John Forbes Nash, Jr.: mathematician, won the Nobel Prize in Economics * John von Neumann: mathematician, pioneer of the modern digital computer * Allen Newell: artificial intelligence * Paul O'Neill: Chairman of the board, 1997–2000 * Edmund Phelps: winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics * Arthur E. Raymond: Chief engineer, Douglas Aircraft Company, RAND founder * Condoleezza Rice: former intern, former trustee (1991–1997), and former Secretary of State for the United States * Michael D. Rich: RAND President and chief executive officer, 1 November 2011 – 5 July 2022 * Leo Rosten: academic and humorist, helped set up the social sciences division of RAND<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yJXu7kMSc44C&q=%22leo+rosten%22+%22rand%22&pg=PA69 |title=The Wizards of Armageddon - Fred M. Kaplan - Google Boeken |date=August 1991 |isbn=978-0-8047-1884-4 |access-date=14 June 2013 |last1=Kaplan |first1=Fred |publisher=Stanford University Press |archive-date=29 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529051904/https://books.google.com/books?id=yJXu7kMSc44C&q=%22leo+rosten%22+%22rand%22&pg=PA69 |url-status=live }}</ref> * Albert S. Ruddy: programmer trainee, Oscar-winning producer of ''The Godfather'' and ''Million Dollar Baby'' * Donald Rumsfeld: Chairman of board from 1981 to 1986; 1995–1996 and secretary of defense for the United States from 1975 to 1977 and 2001 to 2006. * Robert M. Salter: advocate of the vactrain maglev train concept * Paul Samuelson: economist, Nobel Prize in Economics * Thomas C. Schelling: economist, won the 2005 Nobel Prize in Economics * James Schlesinger: former secretary of defense and former secretary of energy * Dov Seidman: lawyer, businessman and CEO of LRN * Norman Shapiro: mathematician, co-author of the Rice–Shapiro theorem, MH Email and RAND-Abel co-designer * Lloyd Shapley: mathematician and game theorist, won the Nobel Prize in Economics * Cliff Shaw: inventor of the linked list and co-author of the first artificial intelligence program * Abram Shulsky: former Director of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans<ref name=Hersh>{{cite news |title=Selective Intelligence — Donald Rumsfeld has his own special sources. Are they reliable? |author=Seymour M. Hersh |newspaper=The New Yorker |date=12 May 2003 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/05/12/030512fa_fact |access-date=15 August 2010 |archive-date=17 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140717100914/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2003/05/12/030512fa_fact |url-status=live }}</ref> * Herbert Simon: Political scientist, psychologist, won the 1978 Nobel Prize in Economics * James Steinberg: Deputy National Security Advisor to Bill Clinton * Ratan Tata: Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 2, 2006 |title=Bruce Karatz and Ratan N. Tata Join Rand Board of Trustees |url=https://www.rand.org/news/press/2006/11/02.html |website=rand.org |language=en-US |access-date=29 April 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429134014/https://www.rand.org/news/press/2006/11/02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> * James Thomson: RAND president and CEO, 1989 – 31 October 2011 * Willis Ware: JOHNNIAC co-designer, and early computer privacy pioneer * William H. Webster: Chairman of the Board, 1959–1960 * Oliver Williamson: economist, won the 2009 Nobel Prize in Economics * Albert Wohlstetter: mathematician and Cold War strategist * Roberta Wohlstetter: policy analyst and military historian * Ariane Tabatabai: former researcher<ref>{{cite web| title=Ariane M. Tabatabai - Publications| url=https://www.rand.org/pubs/authors/t/tabatabai_ariane_m.html| date=24 January 2024| access-date=24 January 2024| archive-date=23 February 2024| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223014211/https://www.rand.org/pubs/authors/t/tabatabai_ariane_m.html| url-status=live}}</ref>

==See also== * ''A Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates'' (published by RAND) * ''Truth Decay'' (also published by RAND) * Federally funded research and development centers

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==

===Books=== * Alex Abella. ''Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire'' (2008, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover; {{ISBN|0-15-101081-1}} / 2009, Mariner Books paperback reprint edition; {{ISBN|0-15-603344-5}}). * S.M. Amadae. ''Rationalizing Capitalist Democracy: The Cold War Origins of Rational Choice Liberalism'' (2003, University of Chicago Press paperback; {{ISBN|0-226-01654-4}} / hardcover; {{ISBN|0-226-01653-6}}). * Martin J. Collins. ''Cold War Laboratory: RAND, the Air Force, and the American State, 1945–1950'' (2002, Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press hardcover, part of the Smithsonian History of Aviation and Spaceflight Series; {{ISBN|1-58834-086-4}}) * Joe Flood. ''The Fires: How a Computer Formula Burned Down New York City—and Determined the Future of American Cities,'' 2010, Riverhead Books, {{ISBN|1-59448-898-3|9781594488986}}—summarized at: [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7906964-the-fires GoodReads.com], and reviewed at: [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1101610139 GoodReads.com] (by Rob Kitchin), and at [https://www.asanet.org/sites/default/files/media/volume_xy_issue_2_spring_2016.pdf ''Accounts,''] (newsletter of the Economics section of the American Sociological Association), Vol. XV, Issue 2, Spring 2016, page 32. * Sharon Ghamari-Tabrizi. ''The Worlds of Herman Kahn: The Intuitive Science of Thermonuclear War'' (2005, Harvard University Press; {{ISBN|978-0-674-01714-6}}) * Agatha C. Hughes and Thomas P. Hughes (editors). ''Systems, Experts, and Computers: The Systems Approach in Management and Engineering, World War II and After'' (2000, The MIT Press hardcover, part of the Dibner Institute Studies in the History of Science and Technology; {{ISBN|0-262-08285-3}} / 2011, paperback reprint edition; {{ISBN|0-262-51604-7}}). * David Jardini. ''Thinking Through the Cold War: RAND, National Security and Domestic Policy, 1945–1975'' (2013, Smashwords; Amazon Kindle; {{ISBN|978-1-301-15851-5}}). * Fred Kaplan. ''The Wizards of Armageddon'' (1983, Simon & Schuster hardcover, first printing; {{ISBN|0-671-42444-0}} / 1991, Stanford University Press paperback, part of the Stanford Nuclear Age Series; {{ISBN|0-8047-1884-9}}). * Edward S. Quade and Wayne I. Boucher (editors), ''Systems Analysis and Policy Planning: Applications in Defense'' (1968, American Elsevier hardcover). * Bruce L.R. Smith. ''The RAND Corporation: Case Study of a Nonprofit Advisory Corporation'' (1966, Harvard University Press / 1969; {{ISBN|0-674-74850-6}}). * Marc Trachtenberg. ''History and Strategy'' (1991, Princeton University Press paperback; {{ISBN|0-691-02343-3}} / hardcover; {{ISBN|0-691-07881-5}}). * Jean Loup Samaan. ''La Rand Corporation'' (2013, Cestudec Press)

===Articles=== * Clifford, Peggy, ed. "RAND and The City". ''Santa Monica Mirror'', 27 October 1999 – 2 November 1999. Five-part series includes: {{Webarchive|url1=https://web.archive.org/web/20050829033455/http://smmirror.com/volume1/issue19/rand_and_the_city.html |date1=29 August 2005 |title1=Part 1 |url2=https://web.archive.org/web/20050831094116/http://www.smmirror.com/Volume1/issue20/rand_and_the_city.html |date2=2005-08-31 |title2=Part 2 |url3=https://web.archive.org/web/20060506223628/http://www.smmirror.com/Volume1/issue21/rand_and_the_city.html |date3=2006-05-06 |title3=Part 3 |url4=https://web.archive.org/web/20050901133548/http://www.smmirror.com/Volume1/issue22/rand_and_the_city.html |date4=2005-09-01 |title4=Part 4 |url5=https://web.archive.org/web/20090616070149/http://www.smmirror.com/Volume1/issue23/rand_and_the_city.html |date5=2009-06-16 |title5=Part 5}} * Miller, Arthur Selwyn, reviewer, book review: [https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3584&context=flr "Smith: ''The Rand Corporation: Case Study of a Nonprofit Advisory'',"] June 1966, ''Florida Law Review,'' Volume 19, Issue 1, Article 15. * Specht, R.D. "Rand: A Personal View of Its History," ''Operations Research,'' vol. 8, no. 6 (Nov.–Dec. 1960), pp. 825–839. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/167230 In JSTOR]

===Documentary films and broadcast programs=== * [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/nash-rand/ ''The RAND Corporation: A Brilliant Madness,''] historical documentary, ''American Experience'' series, PBS-TV—also detailed at [http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/peopleevents/index.html "A Brilliant Madness."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203044938/http://www.shoppbs.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/nash/peopleevents/index.html |date=3 February 2023 }} * [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/rand-corporation "The RAND Corporation,"] (program listings), ''PBS News Hour,'' PBS-TV * [https://www.pbs.org/video/pov-daniel-ellsberg-willing-to-risk-prosecution/ "Daniel Ellsberg: Willing to Risk Prosecution,"] ''POV'' series, PBS-TV - (also [https://www.pbs.org/video/pov-the-most-dangerous-man-in-america-trailer/ trailer])

==External links== {{Commons category|RAND Corporation}} * {{Official website}} * {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|951958142}} * [http://siarchives.si.edu/collections/siris_arc_217704 The Research and Development (RAND) Corporation] from the Smithsonian Institution Archives

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rand Corporation}} Category:1948 establishments in California Category:Companies based in Santa Monica, California Category:Federally Funded Research and Development Centers Category:Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States Category:Human overpopulation think tanks Category:Non-profit corporations Category:Non-profit organizations based in California Category:Organizations listed in Russia as undesirable Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States Category:Population research organizations Category:RAND Corporation Category:Science and technology think tanks Category:Security consulting firms Category:Strategy consulting firms of the United States Category:Think tanks based in the United States Category:Think tanks established in 1948