Pardee RAND Graduate School Celebrates 40th Anniversary

The Pardee RAND Graduate School, the policy analysis doctoral program based at the RAND Corporation, will celebrate its 40th anniversary June 11 and 12, culminating with a commencement address by Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Founded in 1970 as one of eight graduate programs in public policy created to train future leaders in the public and private sectors in policy analysis, the school was the only program specializing in the doctorate degree and the only one based at a public policy research organization. The five-year program is designed to produce an elite class of policy leaders, people whose careers will be distinguished by the caliber of their thinking and actions.

"We are very proud of the impact the Pardee RAND Graduate School has made over its 40-year history, and are excited about the work our newest graduates will begin as they embark on their careers," said Susan L. Marquis, dean of the graduate school.

"When it comes to shaping public policy, and leading the changes that must be made, it's important to rely on evidence-based, objective research," Marquis said. "These new graduates have been trained to approach complex problems not just from an economist's or an engineer's point of view, but across multiple disciplines. Their dissertations have focused on real-world problems, from managing New Orleans' flood risk to detecting terrorist weapon development to evaluating the impact of school nutrition and physical fitness programs."

The celebration will begin June 11 at the RAND Santa Monica campus with a private event for faculty, students and alumni featuring two policy panel discussions. The first, "Be the Answer: A Case Study in Health Care Quality," will be moderated by Jeffrey Wasserman, a RAND senior policy researcher and a professor at the school, and will feature Elizabeth A. McGlynn, distinguished chair in health quality at RAND.

Both Wasserman and McGlynn are alumni of school. They will be joined by Pedro Jose Greer, Jr., a member of the school's board of governors and recent recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, current fellow Sean O'Neill, and alumnus Neeraj Sood of the Leonard D. Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC.

The second, "Be the Answer: The Role of Analysis in Policymaking," will be moderated by Marquis and will feature Albert Carnesale, chancellor emeritus of UCLA, Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Mullen. The discussions will be followed by a reception and celebratory dinner.

On June 12, a total of 33 doctoral degrees and 30 master's degrees will be awarded during commencement ceremonies beginning at 10 a.m. in the courtyard of RAND's Santa Monica campus. Carnesale, Korologos and Mullen will receive honorary degrees at the ceremony, and Mullen will deliver the commencement address to the graduates, their families and friends, and faculty and supporters of the school. The commencement ceremony is open to the media.

Mullen will speak about how RAND graduates' analysis can make a real-world impact on national security during a time of great change.

With 110 students, the Pardee RAND Graduate School is the nation's largest program in policy analysis. Its faculty is drawn from the more than 950 researchers at RAND, a nonprofit research organization that marked its 60th anniversary in 2008.

For more about the Pardee RAND Graduate School and RAND, visit www.rand.org. For media wishing to cover the commencement, please contact Lisa Sodders in the RAND Office of Media Relations at 310 393-0411, ext. 7139 or lsodders@rand.org.