Two Directors Are Appointed in RAND Infrastructure, Safety and Environment Division

Michael Toman has been appointed director of the RAND Corporation's Environment, Energy and Economic Development program, and Martin Wachs is the new director of the RAND Transportation, Space and Technology program.

The appointments were announced today by Debra Knopman, vice president and director of the RAND Infrastructure, Safety and Environment Division.

“Michael Toman and Martin Wachs have a wealth of experience in their respective areas of energy and the environment, and in transportation and urban planning,” Knopman said. “Their knowledge and expertise will strengthen RAND's capacity to assist public and private sector clients as they seek innovative, efficient, and environmentally sound solutions to difficult problems.”

Toman comes to RAND from the Inter-American Development Bank, where he was a senior economist. He earlier held positions at Resources for the Future, where he conducted research on a number of topics including climate change policy, environmental strategies for sustainable development, and energy security.

Toman also served on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House from 1994 to 1996 and was a visiting economist at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. He is currently an adjunct faculty member at the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies Johns Hopkins University, and the University of California in Santa Barbara.

Toman received Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in economics from the University of Rochester. He also holds a M.S. in mathematics from Brown University, and a B.A. in economics and math from Indiana University.

Before joining RAND, Wachs served as director of the Institute of Transportation Studies and the Transportation Center for the University of California, Berkeley. He also spent 25 years with the University of California, Los Angeles, serving as a professor and department chair of the school's urban planning program.

Wachs holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in urban and planning from Northwestern University, and received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the City University of New York.

RAND's Environment, Energy and Economic Development program conducts research on natural resources and their impact on economic development, including environmental quality and regulation, climate, agriculture, natural hazards and disasters, and economic development.

RAND's Transportation, Space and Technology program manages research on new technologies and their implications for the nation and the world, including transportation systems and regulation, ports, space exploration, information and telecommunications technologies and regulation, federal research and development allocation, and social implications of emerging technologies.