Susan L. Marquis Selected as Fourth Dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School

Susan L. Marquis, a former senior Pentagon official and government management expert, will become the new dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, RAND Corporation President and CEO James A. Thomson announced today.

Marquis will assume the position in January and also serve as holder of the Distinguished Chair in Policy Analysis at RAND. The RAND Pardee Graduate School, located in Santa Monica, Calif., has awarded more doctorates in policy analysis than any other institution.

"Susan has had an impressive and diverse career that will certainly prove valuable to RAND and to the graduate school," Thomson said. "We're extraordinarily pleased to have her as our new dean and look forward to the many contributions she will make to the school, its students and RAND at large."

James Q. Wilson, a member of the school's Board of Governors, said, "Susan's lifelong dedication to public service provides an excellent example to our students as they begin to consider where their careers will take them."

Since 2002, Marquis has served as corporate officer and operational vice president of LMI, a nonprofit government consulting firm based in McLean, Va., that is dedicated to improving public management. In that capacity, she was responsible for developing and managing the resource management practice; was the lead officer for corporate thought leadership and outreach, brand definition, and enhancement; and led strategic recruiting efforts.

"I've known, trusted and admired RAND for a long time," Marquis said. "This is a unique opportunity to combine my longtime beliefs in public service, public service education and the importance of developing the next generation of public policy analysts. Students at the Pardee RAND Graduate School get to be part of an intellectual community that doesn't just write about problems, but actually helps the government and other clients solve those problems."

From 1997 to 2002, Marquis was with the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, first as the deputy director of the Assessment Division, and then as assistant deputy chief of naval operations (resources, requirements and assessments). In the latter capacity, she helped lead the development of the U.S. Navy's strategic plan and multiyear budget of $100 billion a year.

She twice served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. From 1994 to 1997 she served as director of the Planning and Analytic Support Division and as director of the Information Management and Analysis Group. From 1989 to 1994 she was an operations research analyst. From 1987 to 1989, she was a program analyst for the Army Chief of Staff.

Marquis currently is a member of the advisory council of the Princeton University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and is currently serving on the school's Task Force on the Changing Nature of Public Service. She has authored numerous articles as well as the book "Unconventional Warfare: Rebuilding U.S. Special Operations Forces," published by the Brookings Institution Press.

Marquis has a bachelor's degree in history from Rutgers College, and master's and doctorate degrees in public and international affairs from Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

The Pardee RAND Graduate School was founded in 1970 as one of America's original eight graduate programs in public policy. It remains the only one based at a research organization. The interdisciplinary doctorate in policy analysis offered by the school is designed to train creative thinkers to play important roles in solving major problems facing the world.

Students work alongside RAND researchers on a broad range of projects as part of their on-the-job-training. Graduates have moved on to leading positions in government, academia and the private sector.