Obaid Younossi

Biography

Obaid Younossi is the director of the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute (RQPI), which serves clients in Qatar and throughout North Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. He oversees all RQPI operations and staff. From 2009 until his appointment as director on July 1, 2011, Younossi was the associate director of RQPI, leading its capacity-building programs.

Younossi's project work spans a wide range of policy areas. Recent highlights include studies to improve Qatar's school transportation system, help design a research portfolio for the Qatar Energy and Environment Institute, and develop the planning budget for the Qatar National Food Security Program. He also designed a seminar on public-policy analysis for senior staff of Qatar's Supreme Council of Family Affairs.

Prior to joining RQPI, he was the associate director of RAND Project AIR FORCE's Resource Management Program in RAND's Washington office. Younossi joined RAND in 1998 as a researcher, managing a number of studies on acquisition improvements, cost analysis, industrial base issues, and technology assessments. He also participated in several studies on the reform of the Afghan army and police force.

Younossi holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.A. in international affairs from George Mason University, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. in public policy and public administration from The George Washington University.