Susan M. Sohler Everingham

Senior Operations Researcher

Pittsburgh Office

Education

M.A. in applied mathematics, University of California, Los Angeles; B.A. in mathematics and biology, Williams College

One Page Bio

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

Susan Sohler Everingham, a senior operations researcher at the RAND Corporation, has been involved in a diverse array of policy studies since joining RAND in 1988.

Her research includes mathematical modeling of complex systems as well as cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analyses of policy alternatives; she coauthored a RAND study that compared various cocaine control strategies and developed the Markov-based model of the demand for cocaine that was used in that research. She has also contributed to a number of studies of the criminal justice system and of violence prevention, as well as evaluations of personnel policies in defense settings. Her recent work supported U.S. Department of Defense efforts to improve defense management in developing countries around the globe, and she is coleading several projects on security cooperation. She is also participating in HSOAC projects on capability development and human resource management.

Everingham has served in a number of RAND management positions, including director of a program of research on military personnel policies, director of a unit focused on international outreach and business development, and director of RAND's Pittsburgh office from October 2008 to January 2018.

Everingham earned her M.A. in applied mathematics from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Research Focus

Previous Positions

Director, RAND Innovation Architecture; Director, Pittsburgh Office; Director, International Programs; Director, Forces and Resources Policy Center, National Security Research Division; Associate Director for Operations and Planning, National Security Research Division

Recent Projects

Defense institution capacity building
Staffing embassy-based security cooperation offices
Cyber assessments of partners and allies
Improving ICE talent management
Enhancing the ICB workforce

Languages

Spanish

Recent Media Appearances

Interviews: Pittsburgh Business Times; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Commentary: Newsweek; p4 Blog; Pittsburgh Business Times; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Commentary

Security Cooperation

The Value of Institutional Capacity Building Through Professional Military Education
Security cooperation rarely makes headlines. But it enhances the security of the United States and its allies and partners in an effective and cost-effective way, and may deserve more attention and support.
Apr 25, 2022
The RAND Blog
Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh's Annual Day of Giving
All funds that RAND raises on September 21 through Pittsburgh's Day of Giving will be devoted to RAND's work taking place in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Sep 21, 2016
Pittsburgh

In Pittsburgh, a Day of Giving
All funds that RAND raises on May 3 through Pittsburgh's Day of Giving will be devoted to RAND's work taking place in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Apr 27, 2016
Cybersecurity

Is It Time to Appoint a Data Security Czar?
Cybersecurity needs to become more of a priority for the government and private corporations. Whatever the solution, public and private officials need to do a better job of weighing the risk-benefit calculation of storing data on Internet-accessible computers and justifying data-handling protocols.
Sep 3, 2015
Newsweek
Pittsburgh

Building the Best Pittsburgh Possible
Pittsburgh's journey toward its bright future has only just begun. To realize its potential, the city needs a vision as well as an innovative, inclusive, and data-driven approach to community development.
Apr 9, 2015
p4 Blog
Pittsburgh

RAND Is Participating in Pittsburgh's Day of Giving May 6
By choosing to support RAND through www.pittsburghgives.org on Tuesday, May 6, your gift goes further thanks to The Pittsburgh Foundation matching a portion of all gifts from $25 to $1,000.
May 2, 2014
The Upside of Snowmageddon
The city's lame response shows, yet again, why we need more cooperation among local governments.
Mar 28, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Getting to Know Pittsburgh: The City Has Embraced Me ... and Now the World?
In the year since I moved to Pittsburgh from Southern California, it's become clear that I unwittingly chose the perfect moment in history to come here, writes Susan Everingham.
Sep 19, 2009
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Public Libraries Are Needed Now More Than Ever
What Pittsburgh attraction provides $3 of economic output for every public dollar invested? The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. If you find this factoid unlikely, it is because the research that discovered it received an astounding lack of attention, write Susan Everingham and Sally Sleeper.
May 29, 2009
Pittsburgh Business Times

Publications

Draft
A Systemic Framework for Understanding the Dynamics of Rural Communities in America
Describes a basic, multi-level framework for mapping the system of factors and mechanisms that most influence positive and negative outcomes in rural communities.
Oct 23, 2019
Report
Expeditionary Civilians: Creating a Viable Practice of Civilian Deployment Within the U.S. Interagency Community and Among Foreign Defense Organizations
This report describes the requirements that generate the need for deployable civilians, the types of missions civilians support, and the methods that U.S. and foreign government organizations use to identify, select, track and deploy civilians.
Jun 9, 2016
Research Brief
Expeditionary Civilians: Informing Department of Defense Civilian Deployment Policy and Practice
RAND conducted an end-to-end review and analysis of Department of Defense civilian deployment to inform policy and practice for using deployable civilians to meet mission needs ten to 20 years into the future.
Jun 9, 2016
Report
Expeditionary Civilians: Creating a Viable Practice of Department of Defense Civilian Deployment
This research presents the results of a review and analysis of DoD civilian deployment, assesses the viability of DoD civilian deployment practice, and proposes a systematic approach to developing and maintaining DoD's civilian deployment capability.
Jun 9, 2016
Research Brief
How Big Is the U.S. Market for Illegal Drugs?
Using data from 2000 to 2010, RAND researchers estimated the number of users, expenditures, and consumption for four illicit drugs: cocaine (including crack), heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine (meth).
Mar 10, 2014
Report
What America's Users Spend on Illegal Drugs: 2000–2010
RAND researchers generated national estimates of the total number of users, total expenditures, and total consumption for four illicit drugs from 2000 to 2010: cocaine (including crack), heroin, marijuana, and methamphetamine.
Mar 7, 2014
Journal Article
Statistics on Cannabis Users Skew Perceptions of Cannabis Use
Collecting information about the prevalence of cannabis use is necessary but not sufficient for understanding the size, dynamics, and outcomes associated with cannabis markets.
Nov 1, 2013
Journal Article
The Whole Is Just the Sum of Its Parts: Limited Polydrug Use Among the "Big Three" Expensive Drugs in the United States
Data from surveys of arrestees and the household population in the U.S. suggest there is only modest overlap among demand for the big three expensive illegal drugs (cocaine/crack, heroin, and methamphetamine).
2013
Testimony
Investigating the Costs of the Death Penalty in California: Insights for Future Data Collection from a Preliminary RAND Effort
Testimony presented before the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice on February 20, 2008.
Feb 20, 2008
Report
Response to the National Research Council's Assessment of RAND's "Controlling Cocaine" Study
In 1999, a scientific committee assembled under the auspices of the National Research Council issued a critique of RAND's 1994 Controlling Cocaine report.
2000
Report
An Ounce of Prevention, a Pound of Uncertainty: The Cost-Effectiveness of School-Based Drug Prevention Programs
Focuses on school-based drug prevention programs that have proven effective in formal evaluations.
1999
Research Brief
The Benefits and Costs of Drug Use Prevention: Clarifying a Cloudy Issue
The United States has for some time now been spending tens of billions of dollars a year in an attempt to control the trafficking and use of illicit drugs; most of those dollars have been used to support stricter enforcement.
1999
Testimony
Comparing the Cost-Effectiveness of Federal Mandatory Minimum Sentences and Other Federal Enforcement Programs
Testimony presented to the Subcommittee on Crime of the House Committee on the Judiciary on July 29, 1999.
1999
Report
Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions
This study synthesizes the results of a number of previous evaluations in an effort to gauge the potentially costly programs that intervene early in the lives of disadvantaged children.
1998
Research Brief
Early Childhood Interventions: Benefits, Costs, and Savings
This research brief describes work documented in Investing in Our Children: What We Know and Don't Know About the Costs and Benefits of Early Childhood Interventions (MR-898-TCWF).
1998
Report
Enforcement or Treatment? : Modeling the Relative Efficacy of Alternatives for Controlling Cocaine
Enforcement or treatment? : modeling the relative efficacy of alternatives for controlling cocaine
1997
Report
Cocaine consumption in the United States : estimating past trends and future scenarios
Researchers examined cocaine consumption in the United States using a Markov model to estimate past trends and predict future scenarios.
1996
Research Brief
Projecting Future Cocaine Use and Evaluating Control Strategies
Concluded that treatment is seven times as cost-effective (at the margin) as domestic enforcement -- the best alternative to treatment that the study evaluated.
1995
Report
Controlling Cocaine: Supply Versus Demand Programs
This report analyzes the relative cost-effectiveness of various available drug interventions.
Jan 1, 1994
Report
Modeling the Demand for Cocaine
This report documents the development of a two-state Markovian model of the demand for cocaine and includes the estimation of incidence, prevalence, cohort retention, and consumption.
1994