Lawrence M. Hanser (he/him) is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation. He previously served as associate director of the Manpower, Personnel, and Training Program within RAND Project AIR FORCE.
As an industrial/organizational psychologist, Hanser's research has focused on people and organizations, and the interface between them—specifically on the design of organizations, and how people are selected and trained to be successful in them. He has led and participated in projects focused on understanding the skill requirements of senior leadership positions in the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the impact of these requirements on development and succession planning. He has examined the career patterns of U.S. Army civilians, paths to increasing professionalism among U.S. Air Force personnel, and entrance testing of applicants to military service. He has evaluated cadet training for the New Yoek CIty Police Department. Recent work includes evaluating the surge capacity of U.S. Army military treatment facilities, examining training shortfalls in U.S. Air Force flight equipment personnel, options to improve the health of the U.S. Army Medical Corps, and considerations of different ways the new U.S. Space Force could choose to develop and manage its personnel.
Hanser received his Ph.D. and M.S. in psychology from Iowa State University and his B.A. in psychology from Marquette University.
Selected Publications
Hanser, Lawrence M., Jennifer J. Li, and Chaitra M. Hardison, Designing a New Framework for the U.S. Space Force Workforce, RAND Corporation (PE-A575-2), 2023
Robbert, Albert A., Lawrence M. Hanser, Supporting the U.S. Space Force Single-Component Structure: Impediments for Members Transitioning Between Full-Time and Part-Time Participation, RAND Corporation (RR-A1588-1), 2023
Li, Jennifer J., Tracy C. Krueger, Lawrence M. Hanser, Andrew M. Naber, and Judith Babcock LaValley, Enhancing Professionalism in the U.S. Air Force, RAND Corporation (RR-1721-AF), 2017
Alkire, Brien, Sherrill Lingel, and Lawrence M. Hanser, A Wargame Method for Assessing Risk and Resilience of Military Command-and-Control Organizations, RAND Corporation (TL-291-AF), 2018
Nataraj, Shanthi, Lawrence M. Hanser, Career Paths in the Army Civilian Workforce: Identifying Common Patterns Based on Statistical Clustering, RAND Corporation (RR-2280-A), 2018
Yeung, Douglas, Christina E. Steiner, Chaitra M. Hardison, Lawrence M. Hanser, and Kristy N. Kamarck, Recruiting Policies and Practices for Women in the Military: Views from the Field, RAND Corporation (RR-1538-OSD), 2017
Hardison, Chaitra M., Susan Burkhauser, Lawrence M. Hanser, and Mustafa Oguz, How Effective Are Military Academy Admission Standards?RAND Corporation (RB-9905-OSD), 2016
Hanser, Lawrence M., Mustafa Oguz, United States Service Academy Admissions: Selecting for Success at the Military Academy/West Point and as an Officer, RAND Corporation (RR-723-OSD), 2015