Pardee RAND News & Events

Pardee RAND Graduate School students, alumni, and faculty are often in the news, writing blogs, publishing research, speaking at events, and more. Other pages (student blog posts, alumni news, faculty blog posts, featured research) provide filtered views of Pardee RAND news and announcements; here we present a complete compilation of ALL the news that's fit to share.

Pardee RAND Celebrates 50 Years of Policy Impact
Fifty years ago, RAND led the charge for a new approach to public policy and the new field of policy analysis. This year, Pardee RAND Graduate School is celebrating 50 years of education and impact, and once again leading the way in redefining the field of policy analysis.

LLNL Externships, Events Provide Experiential Learning
Dec 9, 2019
Through a partnership with the Center for Global Security Research (CGSR) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, four students have had the chance to hold externships, conduct research, and participate in global security conferences and events.
Hackathon Lets Students Explore Dark Web
Dec 4, 2019
Ten students worked on teams for three weeks this fall to use machine learning and analyze data from cryptomarkets — what one team called a "craigslist for illegal things" — stored on RAND's Dark Web Observatory.
Career Services Talks Feature Six Alumni
Nov 25, 2019
A record number of alumni presented career talks this quarter, but the Career Services team is working hard to break that record in the near future.
Student-Prof Commentary: City Diplomacy Has Been on the Rise. Policies Are Finally Catching Up
Nov 22, 2019
Cities are not signing international treaties, nor do they have embassies around the world, write Sohaela Amiri (cohort '16) and Professor Rafiq Dossani. But cities can engage in all kinds of negotiations, reach agreements, and influence world politics. The State Department could tap into this power to further enhance U.S. diplomacy, global image, and influence.
Professor Ponders, Did No One Audit the Apple Card Algorithm?
Nov 21, 2019
Complex, opaque technologies like AI, machine learning and other algorithm systems provide significant benefits to society, writes Professor Osonde Osoba. They help speed up complex decisions, enable wider access to services, and in many cases make better decisions than humans. But those benefits do not obviate the need for accountability and transparency.
Alumni Help Plan 50th Anniversary
Nov 18, 2019
Eighteen terrific alumni are joining Jeffrey Wasserman (Cohort '85) on a task force to help plan activities and events to celebrate Pardee RAND's 50th anniversary throughout 2020.
Student-Alumni Research Finds Unintended Consequences of Policies that Punish Pregnant Women for Substance Use
Nov 13, 2019
Joshua Russell-Fritch (cohort '16), alum Bradley Stein ('97), and RAND colleagues found that state policies that punish pregnant women for illicit substance use are associated with higher rates of infants being born with opioid withdrawal.
Student Helps Create Database of Web Tools to Fight Disinformation Online
Nov 12, 2019
Hilary Reininger (cohort '16) and RAND researchers created a database of web tools that aim to fight the spread of disinformation. These include fact-checking tools, bot detectors, media literacy applications, and more.
Student-Alum Research Finds Australia Is Not Prepared to Deliver an Alzheimer's Treatment
Nov 11, 2019
As in other countries, the Australian health care system has limited capacity to rapidly move a future treatment for Alzheimer's disease from approval into wide clinical use. Sangita Baxi (cohort '17) and Jodi Liu ('12) find that could leave thousands of older people without access to transformative care if such a breakthrough occurs.
Economic Experiments for Global Impact
Oct 23, 2019
Implementing effective solutions for global socioeconomic development and poverty alleviation is a daunting challenge. However, RAND has seen over its decades of work in this area that data-based decisions can improve the welfare of the world's most vulnerable populations.
Tech Leaders Join Advisory Group
Oct 23, 2019
To help guide the development of Pardee RAND's Tech & Narrative Lab, director Todd Richmond and Pardee RAND dean Susan Marquis have assembled a veritable who's who of tech policy leaders to serve on the lab's new Advisory Group.
Alumni, Students Explore Next-Generation Wargaming for the U.S. Marine Corps
Oct 16, 2019
The U.S. Marine Corps has an opportunity to adopt wargaming best practices, tools, and approaches from other sources and adapt them to suit its needs. Yuna Wong (cohort '00), Ellie Bartels ('15), and Benjamin Smith ('15) explore what courses of action the Marine Corps should take toward building its next-generation wargaming concept.
Are States Using Cyber Operations to Coerce Others?
Sep 17, 2019
Cyber operations have become another tool of statecraft. Have any cyber operations sponsored by Russia, China, Iran, or North Korea met the definition of cyber coercion? Krystyna Marcinek (cohort '17) and colleagues explore this question and consider what the United States should do to respond.
Findings Features Students' Summer Activities
Sep 10, 2019
In addition to highlighting Soledad O'Brien's generous gift in support of inclusion, diversity, and equity, our quarterly newsletter shines a spotlight on what our students did this past summer to Be the Answer at home and around the world.
Saving Farmworkers from Slavery-Like Conditions, Field by Field
Sep 5, 2019
Those at the bottom of the European agricultural supply chain are vulnerable to horrible abuse. But Dean Susan Marquis explains that the same was true in the tomato fields of Florida in the United States until not too many years ago, and the solution developed there may offer a roadmap for doing right by those who put food on the market shelves.
APPAM Conferences Feature Students, Alumni
Aug 29, 2019
Dozens of students, alumni, faculty, and RAND colleagues are participating in the 2019 APPAM Fall Conference in Denver, and six students and alumni attended the 2019 APPAM International Conference in Barcelona this July.
A Wargame at RAND Puts Teen Girls in Command
Aug 20, 2019
Student Ellie Bartels (cohort '15) worked with her fellow RAND "Dames of War Games" to develop and host an event for young women to learn firsthand about national security. The day offered a lesson in strategy, in the hard realities behind news headlines, and also in agility and resilience.
How Big Is the U.S. Market for Cannabis, Cocaine, Heroin, and Meth?
Aug 20, 2019
Americans spent about $150 billion on cannabis, cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine in 2016, according to research by alum Greg Midgette (cohort '09), student Steve Davenport ('15), and professor Beau Kilmer. The cannabis market was roughly the size of the cocaine and meth markets combined.
Searching for Signs of Doi Moi in North Korea
Aug 12, 2019
President Trump's second summit with Kim Jong Un prompted voluminous commentary about whether Pyongyang might adopt the “Vietnam model” of economic reform and opening up, known as doi moi. Dung Huynh (cohort '16) and colleagues suggest that although some version of doi moi may be possible in North Korea, it will likely be more difficult than it was in Vietnam, especially because of Kim's reluctance to risk losing absolute control.
The Science Fact and Policy Future of Brain-Digital Interfaces
Aug 2, 2019
The goal of brain-to-digital interfaces has been the stuff of science fiction for decades, but is edging closer to science fact. How it develops and is (allowed to be) used remains to be seen. TNL director Todd Richmond argues that, because of the complexity of the technology, it is critical that scientists, engineers, and developers be involved in the policy conversation.