Bruce R. Orvis

Bruce R. Orvis
Senior Behavioral and Social Scientist; Faculty Member, Pardee RAND Graduate School
Santa Monica Office

Education

Ph.D. and M.A. in psychology, University of California, Los Angeles; A.B. in psychology, University of Rochester

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Bruce R. Orvis is a senior behavioral scientist at the RAND Corporation and member of the Pardee RAND Graduate School faculty. From 2001 to 2011, he directed the Manpower and Training Program in the RAND Army Research Division and was associate director from 1991 to 2000.

Orvis's research covers a broad range of national defense issues. They include assessment of future military and civilian personnel requirements, supply, and the implications for Army recruiting, marketing, and personnel policies; the relationship among soldier characteristics, training, and performance; optimization of recruiting resource mix and levels; workforce capability and productivity; military personnel structures and costs; officer commission production, considering diversity, ROTC staffing and scholarship policy, and economic conditions; national testing of military recruiting initiatives; direction and analysis of national surveys of youth and their parents concerning military service; peacetime and wartime military deployments, including deployability, effects on soldiers and their families, and implications for retention, term length, and recruiting flows; personnel stabilization to increase job qualification rates in the Army RC; integration of manpower, personnel, and training issues into the acquisition of weapon and support systems; servicemember substance abuse; and defense institution-capacity building.

Orvis served as a special consultant to the National Academy of Sciences on military recruiting and on the Scientific Review Panel for the Army's 21st century soldier requirements study. He earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and A.B. with distinction in psychology from the University of Rochester, where he was selected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Previous Positions

Director, Manpower and Training Program, RAND Arroyo Center; Associate Director, Manpower and Training Program, RAND Arroyo Center

Recent Projects

  • Recruiting Lab Study - Leveraging Data Technology and Best Practices for Youth Markets to Improve Microtargeting and Recruiting Outcomes
  • Resources Needed to Meet Army’s Enlisted Accession Requirements
  • Improving Recruit Selection Policies with a New Outcome Assessment Tool
  • Army Career Options Optimizer
  • Assessment and Strengthening of Army Marketing Campaigns and Activities

Selected Publications

Orvis, Bruce R., Michael Childress, and J Michael Polich, Effect of Personnel Quality on the Performance of Patriot Air Defense System Operators, RAND Corporation (R-3901-A), 1992

Orvis, Bruce R., Herb Shukiar, Laurie L. McDonald, Michael G. Mattock, M. Rebecca Kilburn, and Michael G. Shanley, Ensuring Personnel Readiness in the Army Reserve Components, RAND Corporation (MR-659-A), 1996

Orvis, Bruce R., Martin T. Gahart, and Alvin K. Ludwig, Validity and Usefulness of Enlistment Intention Information, RAND Corporation (R-3775-FMP), 1992

Knapp, David, Bruce R. Orvis, Christopher E. Maerzluft, and Tiffany Berglund, Resources Required to Meet the U.S. Army's Enlisted Recruiting Requirements Under Alternative Recruiting Goals, Conditions, and Eligibility Policies, RAND Corporation (RR-2364-A), 2018

Orvis, Bruce R., Christopher E. Maerzluft, Sung-Bou Kim, Michael G. Shanley, and Heather Krull, Prospective Outcome Assessment for Alternative Recruit Selection Policies, RAND Corporation (RR-2267-A), 2018

Lim, Nelson, Bruce R. Orvis, Abigail Haddad, Christopher E. Maerzluft, Kenneth Kuhn, Henu Zhao, and Sung-Bou Kim, Strategic Planning Tools for the Army Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps Program, RAND Corporation (RR-1501-A), 2017

Orvis, Bruce R., M. Wade Markel, and John Engberg, Improving the Department of the Army's Marketing for Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention of Civilians in Critical Occupations, RAND Corporation (RR-A1337-1), 2022

Hosek, James, Bruce R. Orvis, Army Enlistment Options Optimizer: Research Approach, Findings, and Implications, RAND Corporation (RR-A2214-1), 2023

Honors & Awards

  • RAND Silver Medal Award
  • RAND Bronze Medal Award

Languages

Spanish (working level)

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: Washington Post

Publications