RAND Corporation is a think tank that aims to influence the policy and decision-making of the United States government, particularly its military. It is headquartered in Santa Monica, California but has locations throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia and employs roughly 1,800 individuals. ¹

It was formed in the aftermath of the Second World War to maintain and foster the relationship between the private sector, scientists, and the U.S. federal government by becoming a permanent base of research and development (from which its name, “RAND” or RanD, derives) for military technology and strategy.

Background and History

RAND Corporation is a think tank that aims to influence the policy and decision-making of the United States government, particularly its military. It is headquartered in Santa Monica, California but has locations throughout the U.S., Europe, and Australia, and employs roughly 1,800 individuals. ²

RAND Corporation was formed in the aftermath of World War II by leading military officials and technocrats who believed the wartime relationship cultivated between scientists, the U.S. federal government, and the private sector had to become permanent in order to safeguard international peace. RAND began as a project of the Douglas Aircraft Company of Santa Monica, California to foster the connection between the military and research and development, from which its name, “Project RAND” [RanD], derived. Key figures in the creation of Project RAND included Commanding General of the Army Air Force H. H. “Hap” Arnold, Major General Curtis LeMay, General Lauris Norstad, consultant to the Secretary of War Edward Bowles of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), president of the Douglas Aircraft Company Donald Douglas, chief engineer at Douglas Arthur Raymond, and Raymond’s assistant Franklin Collbohm. ³

RAND became a standalone nonprofit organization based in California on May 14, 1948. It received seed money in the form of an interest-free loan from the Ford Foundation as well as a private bank loan for a total of $1 million. ⁴

RAND Corporation has contributed to a vast amount of federal government and military policy, application of technology, and the general culture of public research in the years since its founding. It contributed to America’s space program, to digital computing and artificial intelligence, to the foundations of the internet, and tools and theories regarding complex decision-making such as game theory. ⁵ RAND Corporation was highly significant in developing and propagating the concept of the “think tank” in general. ⁶

RAND was responsible for the planning, programming, and budgeting system championed by Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson administration Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who incorporated it into much of the U.S. government throughout the 1960s. It was declared standard American policy by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. Using the institutions work on game theory, McNamara led a group of RAND researchers known as the “whiz kids” in developing the doctrine of mutually assured destruction to avoid a nuclear war. ⁷

RAND nuclear strategist Herman Kahn analyzed the many different theorized types of nuclear war in his 1960 book On Thermonuclear War. ⁸ Khan, whose 652-page work hypothesized that nuclear war was both possible and “winnable,” ⁹ included chapters such as “Will the Survivors Envy the Dead?” with sentences like “We can imagine a renewed vigor among the population with a zealous, almost religious dedication to reconstruction.” ¹⁰  These and other activities of Cold War-era RAND strategy influenced Stanley Kubrick’s film Dr. Strangelove, with RAND being parodied as the “Bland Corporation.” ¹¹

Over time, RAND Corporation’s scope broadened from military technology policy to encompass topics such as the economy, social issues, foreign political issues, and government spending. ¹²

Activities

RAND releases research reports conducted by its own researchers and analysts on issues pertaining to industry and technological development to influence both public and private sector decision makers. It boasts that many Nobel Laureates have been involved with RAND either as employees, consultants, or advisors. ¹³ According to RAND, in 2022 it was conducting 2,100 different projects. Its projects consist of research services, systematic analysis, and “innovative thinking.” ¹⁴

RAND stresses diversity as an “essential operating principle” in its organization and in its hiring process. ¹⁵  President and CEO of RAND Jason Matheny stated, “The principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental to RAND’s creative, problem-solving culture and to the pursuit of our mission.” RAND claims that advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is central to RAND’s growth, and helps it better serve the public good. ¹⁶ RAND established a “Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy” in 2020, which serves as a hub for research on the critical race theory-influenced concept of racial equity. ¹⁷

RAND runs a graduate program, the Parde RAND Graduate School. It offers both a Ph.D. program and a 2-year master’s program. It was founded in 1970 and is considered the only school of its kind based at a think tank. It recruits professors from its staff of more than 1,000 researchers, and gives its students the option to focus on either “Research, Analysis, and Design,” “Community-Partnered Policy and Action,” or “Technology Applications and Implications.” ¹⁸

RAND publishes a magazine, RAND Review, which has a circulation of about 25,000 subscribers. ¹⁹

Finances

In 2021, RAND Corporation had a total revenue of $399,092,198, total expenses of $370,637,767, and net assets of $389,963,739. ²⁰

According to its 2021 tax return, that year then-RAND president and CEO Michael D. Rich received $744,020 as base compensation and $352,754 in bonuses and incentives. The second highest paid employee was senior vice president of research and analysis Andrew Hoehn, who received $409,224 as base compensation and $95,424 in bonuses and incentives. ²¹

RAND claims that 78 percent of its expenses is allocated to research and analysis, 14 percent to staff development and administration, 7 percent to facilities, and 1 percent to fundraising. ²²

Funding

RAND Corporation breaks down its funding by source on its website. According to RAND, of its $356.2 million revenue for fiscal year 2022, a majority came from the federal government: $62.1 million came from the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense and other national security agencies, $55.7 million came from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and related agencies, $54.3 million came from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), $47.4 million came from the U.S. Air Force, $41.8 million came from the U.S. Army, and $11.6 million came from other federal agencies. The rest came from various sources such as state and local government agencies ($4.7 million), foreign governments and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) ($13.6 million), universities ($9 million), other nonprofits ($17.1 million), private foundations ($18.4 million), philanthropists ($14.2 million), private sector corporations ($4.1 million), and “other” ($2.2 million). ²³

RAND reports to have served 340 different clients and grantmakers, including government agencies, international organizations, and foundations, in its work in 2021. ²⁴

According to RAND, its leading “lifetime donors” who have contributed more than $10,000,000 include the Marcia and Frank Carlucci Charitable Foundation, the Lowy Family Foundation, Susan F. and Donald B. Rice, Epstein Family Foundation, Frederick S. Pardee, and State Farm Insurance. Donors who have given between $5 million and $10 million include Allstate Insurance Company, the Martin Foundation, Leonard D. Schaeffer, Anahita and Jim Lovelace, Anne Rothenberg, and the Cyrus and Michael Tang Foundation. Donors that have given between $1 million and $5 million include the Chubb Corporation, Dow Chemical Company, Exxon Mobil Corporation, the GE Foundation, General Motors Corporation, Hartford Financial Services, Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, Liberty Mutual Group, Pfizer, the Travelers Companies, United Health Foundation, the WellPoint Foundation, and dozens of private donors and foundations such as the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Joyce and Donald Rumsfeld. ²⁵

Leadership

As of 2023, Jason Matheny was serving as the president and CEO of RAND Corporation. Matheny stepped into this role in July 2022, prior to which he worked in the Biden administration’s National Security Council and the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He was the founding director of the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University as well as the director of the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IAPRA). He has also worked for Oxford University, the World Bank, the Applied Physics Laboratory, and the Center for Biosecurity. ²⁶

RAND launched a “Social and Economic Policy Advisory Board” in March 2023 to establish a sense of “thought leadership” on issues such as climate change, equity, healthcare, housing, and governing technology. As of 2023, the board included individuals from BMO Financial Group, Oracle Health, Vulcan Materials Company, Northern Trust Asset Management, Cedars-Sinai Health System, and FTI Consulting. ²⁷

Board of Trustees

As of 2023, RAND Corporation’s board of trustees was comprised of about 20 business leaders and former government officials. They include the former director of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Michael E. Leiter (chair); executive vice president of Home Depot Teresa Wynn Roseborough (vice chair); former CEO of RAND Corporation and former U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Donald B. Rice (Trustee Emeritus); former Prime Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt; former U.S. Secretary of the Navy Richard J. Danzig; author and academic director at Stanford University Francis Fukuyama; professor and founding dean of Roseman University College of Medicine Pedro Jose Greer, Jr.; former U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel; former publisher of the Wall Street Journal and former senior vice president of Dow Jones and Company Karen Elliott House; co-founder and CEO of Globality, Inc. Joel Z. Hyatt; president of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute Lionel C. Johnson; Head of School at Phillips Academy in Andover Raynard S. Kington; principal at Lincoln Financial Group (LFG) Peter Lowy; chairman of Snap Inc. Michael Lynton; president and CEO of RAND Corporation Jason Matheny; former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano; journalist Soledad O’Brien; former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters; former chairman and CEO of EQT Corporation David L. Porges; and founding chairman and CEO of WellPoint Leonard D. Schaeffer. ²⁸

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