Obaid Younossi is director of the Defense and Political Sciences Department, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He is responsible for the hiring, professional growth, and support of about 200 regular professional researchers and over 100 adjunct staff located in four major offices and in offsite locations. Between June 2015 and March 2020, he was the director of the Resource Management Program in RAND Project AIR FORCE, where he was responsible for directing and managing a portfolio of projects to analyze critical policy implications of technology development process and their life cycle management issues. From July 2011 to December 2013, he was the director of the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute (RQPI). From 2009 until his appointment as director of RQPI, Younossi was the associate director of RQPI. Prior to joining RQPI in 2008, he was the associate director of the Resource Management Program in RAND Project AIR FORCE.
Since joining RAND in 1998, Younossi has led and worked on a wide range of studies for the U.S. Air Force, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the U.S. Navy, the UK Ministry of Defence, Government of Qatar, Government of Oman, and the Australian Department of Defence. Younossi holds a Ph.D. and M.Phil in public policy from The George Washington University, an M.A. in international affairs from George Mason University, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh.
Selected Publications
Wong, Jonathan P., Obaid Younossi et al., Improving Defense Acquisition: Insights from Three Decades of RAND Research (RRA1670-1)
Philip Anton et al., Strategies for Acquisition Agility: Approaches for Speeding Delivery of Defense Capabilities, RAND (RR-4193)
Obaid Younossi, Peter Dahl Thruelsen, et al., The Long March: Building an Afghan National Army, RAND Corporation (MG-845), 2009
John Birkler et al., Australia's Shipbuilding Enterprise: Preparing for the 21st Century, RAND Corporation (RR-1093), 2015
Nidhi Kalra, Obaid Younossi et al., Recommended Research Priorities for the Qatar Foundation's Energy and Environment Research Institute, RAND (MG-1106-Qatar), 2011
Bassford, Matt, Hans Pung, Nigel Edgington, Tony G. Thompson-Starkey, Kristin Weed, Mark V. Arena, James G. Kallimani, Gordon T. Lee, and Obaid Younossi, Sustaining Key Skills in the UK Military Aircraft Industry, RAND Corporation (MG-1023-MOD), 2010