Statement about David C. Gompert: Former President of RAND Europe and National Security Advisor to U.S. Presidents

RAND mourns the recent passing of David C. Gompert, who expanded the reach of RAND Europe while serving as its president from 1999 to 2002 and separately advised four U.S. presidents on national security issues. He was 78.

He had also served as vice president of the National Security Research Division and director of the National Defense Research Institute at RAND, the Santa Monica, California–based research institution and parent organization of RAND Europe.

“David Gompert's wide-ranging experience in government, public policy analysis, and the private sector was crucial to RAND's efforts to expand its role as a source of rigorous, independent, and far-sighted research. He helped shape work that informed decisionmakers across the United States and Europe,” said Jason Matheny, president and CEO of RAND.

Gompert's government career included senior positions in national security, including serving as special assistant to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, special assistant to President George H.W. Bush, and principal deputy director of national intelligence and acting director of national intelligence under President Barack Obama. During the George W. Bush presidency, Gompert was senior adviser for national security and defense to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, and led a comprehensive review of U.S. conventional military forces for Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

In 1993 Gompert joined RAND as a vice president and six years later was named president of RAND Europe. During his three-year tenure, Gompert helped expand RAND's footprint across Europe, expanding both the number of RAND Europe research programs and research center locations.

He oversaw RAND Europe projects involving issues such as defense and security, international development, and transportation for the Dutch government, the European Commission, and other clients with the goal of “providing a bridge across which Europe and the United States can share solutions to mutual problems,” he once said.

Born in 1945, Gompert received a bachelor's degree in engineering from the United States Naval Academy. He also earned a master's degree in public affairs from Princeton University.

Gompert joined the U.S. State Department in 1975 and over the next eight years served as deputy to the undersecretary for political affairs, deputy director of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, and deputy assistant secretary for European affairs.

From 1983 to 1990 Gompert held senior corporate positions. At Unisys he was president of systems management and vice president for strategic planning. At AT&T he was vice president of civil sales and programs, and directed international market planning.

He returned to government service in 1990 and spent three years as special assistant to the president, and senior director for Europe and Eurasia on the National Security Council.

At RAND, he published research and commentary on a wide variety of topics, including strengthening U.S.-China relations, trends in military capabilities among potential U.S. adversaries, and the impact of U.S. withdrawal on Iraq's internal security and stability.

His major works included America and Europe: A Partnership for a New Era, a 1997 collection of essays by RAND analysts that called for a more ambitious NATO alliance. Gompert co-edited the volume with a RAND political scientist, F. Stephen Larrabee.

After serving at RAND Europe, Gompert moved to RAND's Washington, D.C., office as emeritus vice president. He later focused on research as an adjunct senior fellow, a position he held until his death, and wrote widely on foreign affairs.

“David had a unique combination of analytical and leadership skills that served RAND well,” said former RAND President and CEO James Thomson, who recruited him to RAND in 1993. “He not only contributed greatly to the quality of RAND's research, but also expanded the breadth of RAND's research agenda on both continents.”

Gompert also served on the faculties of the Pardee RAND Graduate School, the U.S. Naval Academy, and National Defense University.

He is survived by his wife Cindy and their two children.

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• National Security