RAND Corporation

The RAND Corporation (derived from the phrase "research and development")[7] is a non-partisan American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute,[1] and public sector consulting firm that engages in research and development (R&D) across multiple fields and industries.[8][9]

Not to be confused with American Research and Development Corporation, Remington Rand, Ingersoll Rand, or Sperry Rand.
"RAND" redirects here. For other uses, see Rand (disambiguation).

RAND Corporation
PredecessorSpin-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.
FormationMay 14, 1948 (1948-05-14)
FoundersHenry H. "Hap" Arnold
Donald Douglas
Curtis LeMay
TypeGlobal policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm [1]
95-1958142
Legal statusNonprofit corporation
PurposePolicy analysis,
Research and development
HeadquartersSanta Monica, California, U.S.
Coordinates34.009599°N 118.490670°W / 34.009599; -118.490670
Region
Worldwide
President and CEO
Jason Gaverick Matheny[2]
RAND Leadership
Jennifer Gould
Andrew R. Hoehn
Winfield A. Boerckel
Allison Elder
Mike Januzik
Susan L. Marquis
Eric Peltz
Brandon Baker
Melissa Rowe
Robert M. Case[2]
President, RAND Europe
Hans Pung[2]
Bonnie G. Hill
Joel Z. Hyatt
Paul G. Kaminski
Philip Lader
Peter Lowy
Michael Lynton
Ronald L. Olson
Mary E. Peters
David L. Porges
Donald B. Rice
Michael D. Rich
Hector Ruiz
Leonard D. Schaeffer[3]
SubsidiariesRAND Europe
Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School
AffiliationsIndependent
Revenue (2014)
Increase$351.7 million[4]
DisbursementsNumerous
ExpensesIncrease$340.4 million[4]
Endowment$267.7 million (2020)[5]
Staff (2015)
1,700[6]
Websitewww.rand.org

It is largely financed by the U.S. government, private endowments,[6] corporations,[10] universities,[10] charitable foundations, U.S. state and local governments, private individuals, international organizations, and in small part by foreign governments.[10][11]

The RAND Corporation was originally founded in 1948 by Douglas Aircraft Company to offer research and analysis to the United States Armed Forces following World War II. Today, it has diversified its fields of research beyond the defense industry and aerospace manufacturing, now entering into more civilian-serving areas such as "Education and the Arts;" "Health and Health Care;" "International Affairs;" "Energy, Environment, and Economic Development;" and "Military, Veterans, and Their Families".[12]

The company assists other governments, international organizations, private companies and foundations with a host of defense and civilian-serving non-defense issues, including healthcare and education. RAND aims for interdisciplinary and quantitative problem solving by translating theoretical concepts from formal economics and the physical sciences into novel applications in other areas, using applied science, operations research, and policy analysis.[11]

Overview

RAND has approximately 1,850 employees. Its American locations include: Santa Monica, California (headquarters); Arlington, Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Boston, Massachusetts.[13] The RAND Gulf States Policy Institute has an office in New Orleans, Louisiana. RAND Europe is located in Cambridge, United Kingdom, and Brussels, Belgium.[14] RAND Australia is located in Canberra, Australia.[15]

RAND is home to the Frederick S. Pardee RAND Graduate School, one of eight original graduate programs in public policy and the first to offer a PhD. The program aims to provide practical experience for students, who work with RAND analysts on addressing real-world problems. The campus is at RAND's Santa Monica research facility. The Pardee RAND School is the world's largest PhD-granting program in policy analysis.[16]

Unlike many other programs, all Pardee RAND Graduate School 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.[16] RAND also offers a number of internship and fellowship programs allowing students and others to assist in conducting research for RAND projects. Most of these are short-term independent projects mentored by a RAND staff member.[17]

RAND publishes the RAND Journal of Economics, a peer-reviewed journal of economics.[18]

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.[19][20]

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.[17] The immediate impetus for the creation of RAND was a fateful conversation in September 1945 between General Henry H. "Hap" Arnold and Douglas executive Franklin R. Collbohm.[21] 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.[21]

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."[22] 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.[22]

Douglas engineer Arthur Emmons Raymond came up with the name Project RAND, from "research and development".[7] 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.[7] He later became RAND's first president and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1967.[23]

On 1 October 1945, Project RAND was set up under special contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company and began operations in December 1945.[17][24] In May 1946, the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship was released.

RAND Corporation

By late 1947, Douglas 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.[17]

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 the RAND Corporation.[17] 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.[25]

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.[26] 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".[27][28]

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.[29]

RAND was not the first think tank, but during the 1960s, it was the first think tank to be regularly referred to as a "think tank".[1] In other words, RAND served as the "prototype" for the modern definition of that term.[1]

Mission

RAND was incorporated as a non-profit organization to "further promote scientific, educational, and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare and security of the United States of America". Its self-declared mission is "to help improve policy and decision making through research and analysis", using its "core values of quality and objectivity".[30]

Achievements
RAND Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The achievements of RAND stem from its development of systems analysis. Important contributions are claimed in space systems and the United States' space program,[31] in computing and in artificial intelligence. RAND researchers developed many of the principles that were used to build the Internet.[32] RAND also contributed to the development and use of wargaming.[33][34]

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.[8][11][9]

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.[35][36]

In 2018, RAND began its Gun Policy in America initiative,[37] which resulted in comprehensive reviews of the evidence of the effects of gun policies in the United States. The second expanded review in 2020[38] analyzed almost 13,000 relevant studies on guns and gun violence since 1995 and selected 123 as having sufficient methodological rigor for inclusion. These were used to determine the level of scientific support for eighteen classes of gun policy.

Controversy

Almost since its inception, the RAND Corporation has been involved in controversial issues—and its reports, recommendations and influence have been the subject of extensive public debate and controversy. Among these have been:

Notable participants
John von Neumann, consultant to the RAND Corporation[59]

See also

References
  1. Medvetz, Thomas (2012). Think Tanks in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-226-51729-2. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  2. "RAND Leadership". RAND Corp. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  3. "RAND Corporation Board of Trustees". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  4. "Financial Statements, FY 2016". RAND Corp. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  5. As of June 30, 2020. U.S. and Canadian Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2020 Endowment Market Value and Change in Endowment Market Value from FY19 to FY20 (Report). National Association of College and University Business Officers and TIAA. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  6. "2013 RAND Annual Report". RAND Corp. 9 April 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  7. Abella, Alex (2009). Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire. Boston and New York: Mariner Books. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-15-603344-2. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. "Policy Experts". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  9. "RAND Corporation - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. "How We're Funded". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  11. Monica, 1776 Main Street Santa; California 90401-3208. "How We Are Funded: Major Clients and Grantmakers of RAND Research". www.rand.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  12. "RAND Corporation - GuideStar Profile". www.guidestar.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  13. "RAND Locations". RAND Corp. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  14. "RAND Europe Contact Information". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  15. "RAND Locations: Canberra Office". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  16. "Pardee RAND History". Pardee RAND Graduate School. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  17. "RAND at a Glance". RAND Corp. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  18. "The RAND Journal of Economics". www.rje.org. Retrieved 21 May 2023.
  19. Sarabi, Brigette (1 January 2005). "Oregon: The Rand Report on Measure 11 is Finally Available". Partnership for Safety and Justice (PSJ). Retrieved 15 April 2008.
  20. Harvard University Institute of Politics. "Guide for Political Internships". Harvard University. Retrieved 18 April 2008.
  21. Abella, Alex (2009). Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire. Boston and New York: Mariner Books. p. 11. ISBN 978-0-15-603344-2. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  22. Abella, Alex (2009). Soldiers of Reason: The RAND Corporation and the Rise of the American Empire. Boston and New York: Mariner Books. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-15-603344-2. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  23. Oliver, Myrna (14 February 1990). "Franklin Collbohm Dies; Founder of RAND Corp". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  24. Johnson, Stephen B (2002). The United States Air Force and the Culture of Innovation 1945-1965 (PDF). Diane Publishing. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-4289-9027-2. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  25. Jardini, David R. (2013). Thinking Through the Cold War: RAND, National Security and Domestic Policy, 1945-1975. p. 10.
  26. Twing, Steven W. (1998). Myths, models & U.S. foreign policy. Lynne Rienner Publishers. ISBN 1-55587-766-4.
  27. Hanks, Robert (19 December 2007). "The Week In Radio: The think tank for unthinkable thoughts". The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  28. Kaplan, Fred (10 October 2004). "Truth Stranger Than 'Strangelove'". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 June 2009.
  29. "The Space Review: LBJ's Space Race: What we didn't know then (Part 1)".
  30. "About RAND - Vision". RAND. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  31. Davies, Merton E.; Hams, William R. (September 1988). RAND's Role in the Evolution of Balloon and Satellite Observation Systems and Related U.S. Space Technology (PDF). RAND Corp. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  32. "Paul Baran - Posthumous Recipient". Internet Hall of Fame. Internet Society. 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  33. Perla, Peter P. (1990). The Art of Wargaming: A Guide for Professionals and Hobbyists. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. pp. 114–118. ISBN 0-87021-050-5. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  34. Perry, Walter L.; Pirnie, Bruce R.; Gordon, John (1999). Issues Raised During the 1998 Army After Next Spring Wargame. Santa Monica, CA: RAND. ISBN 0-8330-2688-7. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  35. "RAND's Health Insurance Experiment (HIE)". RAND Corp. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  36. Herdman, Roger C.; Behney, Clyde J. (September 1993). "Chapter 3: The Lessons and Limitations of the Rand Health Insurance Experiment" (PDF). Benefit Design in Health Care Reform: Patient Cost-Sharing (Princeton University): 23–38. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  37. "Gun Policy".
  38. The Science of Gun Policy A Critical Synthesis of Research Evidence on the Effects of Gun Policies in the United States, Second Edition
  39. Saul Friedman (Houston Chronicle, Nieman Fellow): "The Rand Corporation and Our Policy Makers," September 1963, The Atlantic, retrieved November 25, 2022
  40. "Albert Wohlstetter, 83, Expert On U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Dies", January 14, 1997, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  41. Heilbrunn, Jacob: "Real Men of Genius" (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
  42. Rej, Abhijnan: Commentary: The Other Legacy of Robert McNamara," June 10, 2016, War on the Rocks, -- reviewed by Matthew Fay in "Rationalizing McNamara's Legacy," August 5, 2016, Niskanen Center; Fay rebutted by RAND representatives John Speed Meyers and Jonathan P. Wong, at "In Defense of Defense Analysis," September 2, 2016, The RAND Blog, RAND Corporation; retrieved November 24, 2022
  43. Wyne, Ali (RAND Corporation) opinion essay: "A new world order will likely arise only from calamity," July 24, 2018, Washington Post, retrieved November 24, 2022
  44. Clines, Francis X.: "The Men Who Tell City How to Run the City," July 8, 1970, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  45. Szanton, Peter L. (RAND Corporation): "Analysis and Urban Government: Experience of the New York City-Rand Institute," July, 1972, Policy Sciences, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 153-161, Springer, at Jstor.org, retrieved November 24, 2022
  46. "Data in the Fire Service," 2015, NFPA 2015 Responder Forum, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), retrieved November 24, 2022
  47. 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: GoodReads.com, and reviewed at: GoodReads.com (by Rob Kitchin), and at Accounts, (newsletter of the Economics section of the American Sociological Association), Vol. XV, Issue 2, Spring 2016, page 32, retrieved November 24, 2022
  48. Naughton, James M.: "Federal Warrant Is Issued For the Arrest of Ellsberg," June 26, 1971, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  49. "The Insider" (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 "The Devil and Daniel Ellsberg," June 2000, Reason, retrieved November 24, 2022
  50. Kazin, Michael, reviewer: "Inside Job" (book review of Secrets -- autobiography of Daniel Ellsberg, 2002, Viking), November 3, 2002, Washington Post, retrieved November 24, 2022
  51. Elliot, Mai (Foreword by James A. Thomson, RAND president): RAND in Southeast Asia: A History of the Vietnam War Era, 2010, RAND Corporation / Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-8330-4754-0; reviewed by James M. Carter at August 2011, Journal of American Studies, Volume 45 , Issue 3 , pp. 631 - 633, reproduced at Cambridge University. Retrieved November 24, 2022
  52. "The Real Health Issue," June 25, 1974, Page 36, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  53. "Alcoholism Controversy," August 4, 1976, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  54. "An Analysis and Critique of the RAND Corporation's Studies in Support of No Fault Laws," 2000, Consumer Watchdog, retrieved November 24, 2022
  55. Gordon, Michael R.: "Occupation Plan for Iraq Faulted in Army History," June 29, 2008, New York Times, retrieved November 24, 2022
  56. Christopher Ingraham (2 March 2018). "The best available evidence suggests NRA-backed gun policies are making crime worse". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  57. Aaron Brown; Justin Monticello (31 March 2022). "Do Studies Show Gun Control Works? No". reason.com. Reason Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  58. Sheryl Gay Stolberg (27 March 2021). "Can New Gun Violence Research Find a Path Around the Political Stalemate?". New York Times. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  59. Life Magazine, 25 February 1957, "Passing of a Great Mind", by Clay Bair JR. pages 89–104
  60. Alex Roland and Philip Shiman, Strategic Computing: DARPA and the Quest for Machine Intelligence, 1983–1993, The MIT Press, 2002, p. 302
  61. Nina Tannenwald, The Nuclear Taboo: The United States and the Non-Use of Nuclear Weapons Since 1945, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (UK), 2007, p. 138-139
  62. "F. R. Collbohm, 83, Ex-Head of Rand, Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. 14 February 1990. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  63. "Michael H. Decker - Profile".
  64. WILLIAM J. BROADPublished: 21 January 1991 (21 January 1991). "WAR IN THE GULF: HIGH TECH; War Hero Status Possible for the Computer Chip". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  65. Dole, Stephen H. (2007). Habitable Planets for Man (New RAND ed.). Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corp. ISBN 978-0-8330-4227-9. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  66. Dole, Stephen H. (2007). Habitable Planets for man. RAND Corporation.
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  69. "Computer Science History". School of Computing. University of Utah. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
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  71. Noland, Claire (12 April 2007). "Konrad Kellen, 93; Rand researcher studied Vietnam War and urged withdrawal of troops". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2013.
  72. Monica, 1776 Main Street Santa; California 90401-3208. "Jason Matheny Named President and CEO of RAND Corporation". www.rand.org. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  73. Kaplan, Fred (August 1991). The Wizards of Armageddon - Fred M. Kaplan - Google Boeken. ISBN 978-0-8047-1884-4. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  74. Seymour M. Hersh (12 May 2003). "Selective Intelligence — Donald Rumsfeld has his own special sources. Are they reliable?". The New Yorker.
  75. "Bruce Karatz and Ratan N. Tata Join Rand Board of Trustees". rand.org. 2 November 2006.

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: GoodReads.com, and reviewed at: GoodReads.com (by Rob Kitchin), and at 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)

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