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.

  • Statement from the Dean on Racial Injustice

    The call for social justice that has swept across our nation and the world over this past week demands that we listen, learn, and do more to “shine the light that reveals the dust” and to do the hard work of building a better world not just this week but for years to come. It is my fervent hope that our community will rise to the occasion and live up to our motto, Be the Answer.

  • Coronavirus shown against world map and trend lines, illustration by chakisatelier/Adobe Stock

    Responding to COVID-19 with Research and Analysis

    Members of the Pardee RAND community are actively contributing to the COVID-19 response by sharing their expertise and searching for solutions to coronavirus-related challenges on local, state, national, and global levels.

  • Petty Officer 1st Class Steven Huerta hoists two children from their rooftop into a Coast Guard rescue helicopter after flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, LA, August 29, 2005, photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Kyle Niemi/U.S. Coast Guard

    HSOAC Hosts Seminar Series on Improving Equity in Disaster Policy

    Oct 7, 2020

    Natural and biological hazards, and critically the human response to these hazards, have the potential not only to exacerbate existing population inequities but also to create them. To better understand the equity implications of disaster policies, the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center invited several experts to share their knowledge. Max Izenberg (cohort '18) summarizes the event.

  • United States Treasury check for stimulus package to ease the impact of Coronavirus (Covid-19)

    School Provides Students Coronavirus Emergency Relief Funding

    Oct 1, 2020

    The Pardee RAND Graduate School has been approved for $29,269 from the U.S. Department of Education for Emergency Financial Aid Grants to Students.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a video conference call with officials and public representatives of the region of Dagestan amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia May 18, 2020, photo by Alexei Nikolsky/Reuters

    How Russia Targets U.S. Elections

    Oct 1, 2020

    In this campaign season, Russia might try to manipulate U.S. voters through social media as it did in 2016, and new technologies have made these efforts easier. Russia's tactics aim to polarize Americans, create distrust, and paralyze the political process. Student Hilary Reininger ('16) and colleagues ask, what is the best defense against them?

  • A teacher showing a globe to her online elementary students, photo by ake1150sb/Getty Images

    Schools Weren't Prepared for a Crisis Like COVID-19

    Sep 29, 2020

    Before COVID-19, less than half of U.S. public schools had a written plan for dealing with a pandemic and only 38 states had publicly available school health emergency plans, according to research by Melissa Diliberti (cohort '19) and RAND colleagues. How did schools' preparation affect their transitions to remote learning and principals' confidence in student achievement?

  • Boston Public School teacher Princess Bryant teaches her kindergarten class via video-conference from her apartment after schools were closed for the remainder of the school year because of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S., April 28, 2020, photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters

    The Digital Divide and COVID-19

    Sep 24, 2020

    Findings from a survey of U.S. teachers reveal how limited home internet access has been a barrier to providing instruction amid pandemic-related school closures. Student Melissa Diliberti (cohort '19) and colleagues find the problem is particularly acute among high-poverty schools.

  • The game box cover for Hedgemony, design by Rick Penn-Kraus/RAND Corporation

    Hedgemony: A Game of Strategic Choices

    Sep 22, 2020

    Alum Yuna Wong (cohort '00) helped to develop this tabletop military strategy game in which players represent the United States, its allies, and its key competitors. They must use “hedging” strategies and decide how to best manage their resources and forces.

  • A businesswoman types on a laptop computer

    Applications Are Now Being Accepted for Fall 2021

    Sep 15, 2020

    The Pardee RAND application period for 2021 is now open. Completed applications must be received by January 5, 2021. Learn more about the online application process, and apply today!

  • Glass globe sitting on chalk board with crisis and policy written in chalk, photo by courtneyk/Getty Images

    Had We Planned Better for a Pandemic, We Might Be More Free Today

    Sep 4, 2020

    The COVID-19 pandemic has made Americans less free, confining us to our homes, and separating us from the people we love and things we value doing. Tim McDonald (cohort '16) and professor Robert Lempert say this COVID-19 experience may help people to learn the importance of planning to preserving and expanding freedom in an interconnected and complex world.

  • Shearon Roberts at Pardee RAND's Faculty Leaders Program in July 2018, photo by Diane Baldwin/RAND Corporation

    Pardee RAND's Faculty Leaders Program: Shaping the Future of Public Policy

    Sep 3, 2020

    To be effective, public policy needs to reflect the aspirations, lives, and perspectives of the people it serves. The Pardee RAND Graduate School seeks to build diversity in public policy by engaging faculty leaders from U.S. colleges and universities committed to serving students of color.

  • A missile is seen launched during a military drill in North Korea, May 10, 2019, photo by Korean Central News Agency via Reuters

    Alum: In North Korea, The U.S. Could Take the Lead

    Aug 17, 2020

    North Korea is hurting: its economy is stagnant and it is having trouble feeding even its elites because of the UN/U.S. sanctions designed to pressure North Korean toward denuclearization. Bruce Bennett (cohort '75) says a combined carrot and stick approach may help overcome some of North Korea's reluctance to negotiate the future of its nuclear weapons program.

  • Whitney Maddox and DeShaun Bradford stand in line with hundreds of others outside a career center in Frankfort, Kentucky, hoping for assistance with their unemployment claim, June 18, 2020, photo by Bryan Woolston/Reuters

    Prof Examines the Racial Disparity in Unemployment Benefits

    Jul 15, 2020

    Today's unemployed inherited a system of state policies that were set up in the 1930s, writes Prof. Kathryn Edwards. For decades there have been calls to reform unemployment insurance; this is one more reason. Economic racial inequality in America cannot be solved through unemployment insurance, but it certainly shouldn't be exacerbated by it.

  • Detroit police line up next to an armored vehicle following a rally against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in Detroit, Michigan, June 1, 2020, photo by Rebecca Cook/Reuters

    Alum: How to Reform Military Gear Transfers to Police

    Jul 13, 2020

    Police officers equipped like soldiers have appeared on the streets of American cities amid recent protests over George Floyd's killing. Alum Jack Riley (cohort '88) asks, how should lawmakers reform a program that makes use of excess equipment and is popular with police departments, but that also raises substantial concerns about the militarization of policing?

  • Jonathan Welburn stands on Santa Monica's nearly deserted Third Street Promenade in May 2020, photo by Diane Baldwin/RAND Corporation

    Balancing Public Health and Economic Effects of Physical Distancing: Q&A with Jonathan Welburn

    Jul 13, 2020

    Prof. Jonathan Welburn, an operations researcher at RAND, has spent years studying how economic shocks ripple outward like a contagion through the economy. He recently worked with fellow professors and several Pardee RAND students to develop an online tool that policymakers can use to manage the public health and economic trade-offs of physical-distancing policies.

  • Street sign with Wall St. and Main St. signs, photo by BobHemphill/Getty Images

    Prof Describes a Tale of Two Americas

    Jul 9, 2020

    While a confluence of crises have spotlighted a dangerous divide, writes Prof. Krishna Kumar, inequality in the United States has been increasing for decades and cannot be undone in a hurry. There is no substitute for firm policy commitment over many years to address disparities in the basic aspects of life—education, health, jobs, financial and business participation, and justice.

  • Harvard University campus after it shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 25, 2020, photo by Keiko Hiromi/Reuters

    College in America Could Be Changed Forever

    Jul 7, 2020

    COVID-19 is threatening to upend the models that both public and private higher education depend on in the United States, write Professors Charles Goldman and Rita Karam. As universities consider whether to postpone in-person classes until next year, many parents and students may be questioning the value of a traditional higher education.

  • technology, book, concept, connection, network, information, digital, business, connectivity, communication, world, learning, education, booking, education, paper, book, literature, open, text, information, school, read, white, page, learn, student, object, document, bible, study, religion, law, knowledge, legal, university, manual, sheet, quantity, publication, idea, closeup, catalog, creative, handbook, textbook, outdoor, wooden, table, paperwork, technology, book, concept, connection, network, information, digital, business, connectivity, communication, world, learning, education, booking, paper, literature, open, text, school, read, white, page, learn, student, object, document, bible, study, religion, law, knowledge, legal, university, manual, sheet, quantity, publication, idea, closeup, catalog, creative, handbook, textbook, outdoor, wooden, table, paperwork

    Pardee RAND's commitment to our international students

    Jul 7, 2020

    International students are vital to the fabric of the Pardee RAND community. The U.S. government has announced visa restrictions that apply to students attending online-only universities in the U.S., but these do not apply to Pardee RAND, which uses a hybrid academic program of in-person and online instruction.

  • An employee of a pizza restaurant talks to a customer in Austin, Texas, June 28, 2020, photo by Sergio Flores/Reuters

    Prof: COVID-19's Depletion of Entry-Level Summer Jobs Can Have Long-Lasting Effects for Young Workers

    Jul 6, 2020

    Summer is typically a time when employment for young workers is at its highest, but one of the many costs of the COVID-19 pandemic is lower employment rates. For young workers, writes Prof. Matthew Baird, it's not just an issue of lost wages this summer; there is also an effect on their personal job history moving forward.

  • An Airman with the 238th Air Support Operations Squadron prepares for a close air support exercise during Southern Strike 2020 at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, MS, February 3, 2020, photo by Staff Sgt. Izabella Workman/U.S. Air Force

    Book Review: 'The Kill Chain: Defending America in the Future of High-Tech Warfare' by Christian Brose

    Jul 2, 2020

    As the Pentagon and commercial technologists continue to explore the potential of commercial technologies for the military and work towards greater adoption, Alum Jon Wong (cohort '12) says they may wish to focus not only on lowering bureaucratic barriers but also on managing expectations about what technologies will be most beneficial and how they will be used.

  • A radio telescope in front of a field of stars

    Alums Suggest Opportunities for Including Information Environment in USMC Wargames

    Jul 1, 2020

    Research by alumnae Yuna Wong (cohort '00) and Ellie Bartels ('15) finds wargaming is enjoying renewed prominence in the defense community, but the information environment remains underdeveloped and underrepresented in U.S. Marine Corps wargames.

  • A woman blowing into a breath monitor, photo by aijohn784/Getty Images

    Revoking the 'License to Drink': Emerging Evidence on Mandatory Sobriety

    Jun 29, 2020

    After counties in South Dakota implemented a 24/7 sobriety program, repeat arrests for impaired driving decreased in the counties by an average of 12%. North Dakota implemented a similar program and also saw decreases in impaired driving. Alum Greg Midgette and Prof. Beau Kilmer ask, Can the same results be achieved outside of the Dakotas?