Susan M. Gates

Biography

Susan M. Gates is a senior economist specializing in the economics of organizations, political economy, and applications of economic management principles to public-sector organizations, with a special interest in public-sector leadership and entrepreneurship. She is also a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Gates serves as director of the Kauffman-RAND Institute for Entrepreneurship Public Policy. Gates's current projects include a study of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition workforce, an evaluation of the New Leaders for New Schools national principal training program, and a study of entrepreneurship in health care delivery. Gates has led projects on a wide range of topics including whether the U.S. health insurance system is a barrier to entrepreneurship, the career paths of school principals and superintendents, the impact of DoD outsourcing efforts on the civil service workforce, civilian workforce requirements in the DoD, and intern programs as a recruiting tool for the DoD. Other recent studies examined higher education from an industry perspective, the cost of and demand for military child care programs, and approaches for ensuring the quality and productivity of DoD's education and professional development activities targeting civilians. Gates received her Ph.D. in economic analysis and policy from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Stanford University.