Rand Corporation

Rand Corporation research institution in Santa Monica, Calif.; founded 1948 and supported by federal, state, and local governments, as well as by foundations and corporations. Its principal fields of research are national security and public welfare. Research in national security affairs includes studies in planning, procurement, support and operations of military forces, studies of strategic and tactical forces, command and control, logistics management, and the relation between political and military strategy. Research in domestic problems includes studies in health care, education, transportation, communication, racial discrimination, poverty, housing, and environmental pollution.

Bibliography: See B. L. Smith, Rand Corporation (1966).

RAND Corporation Rand Corporation an independent think tank created in 1945 at the urging of the U.S. Air Force in Santa Monica, California, to do service research under contract. Initially the body was known as Project RAND and operated under the auspices of the Douglas Aircraft Company. It become independent in 1948. RAND gained its reputation primarily through research on national security. In the 1960s the corporation began to address domestic policy as well. ‘RAND’ is a contraction of ‘research and development.’