RAND Corporation

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces. The organization has since expanded to working with other governments, private foundations, international organizations, and commercial organizations.

On October 1, 1945, Commanding General of the Army Air Force H. H. "Hap" Arnold, Edward Bowles of M.I.T, Donald Douglas, President of Douglas Aircraft Company, Arthur Raymond, Chief Engineer at Douglas, and ranklin Collbohm, Raymond's assistant, met at Hamilton Field, California, to set up Project RAND under special contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company.

RAND was set up in 1946 by the United States Army Air Forces as Project RAND, under contract to the Douglas Aircraft Company, and in May 1946 they released the Preliminary Design of an Experimental World-Circling Spaceship. In May 1948, Project RAND was separated from Douglas and became an independent non-profit organization. Initial capital for the split came from the Ford Foundation.

With an annual budget of $160 million, the Rand Corporation is the most important private research center for military strategy and organization in the world. It is the prestigious voice of the American military-industrial lobby. Presided over by James Thomson, among its administrators are Ann McLaughlin Korologos (former president of the Aspen Institute) and Frank Carlucci (president of the Carlyle Group). Condoleezza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld were formerly administrators, as much as their official functions permitted. Zalmay Khalilzad was an analyst there.

Dr. James A. Thomson has been RAND Corporation's president and chief executive officer since August 1989 and a member of the RAND staff since 1981.

Michael Rich is executive vice president of the RAND Corporation, the institution's second-ranking position.

RAND have seven offices worldwide;
Arlington, Virginia (Washington, D.C.)
Santa Monica, California
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jackson, Mississippi
New Orleans, Louisiana

Doha, Qatar,
Cambridge, United Kingdom

Quotes:
"Covert foreign policy became the standard mode of operation after World War II, which was also when Ford Foundation became a major player for the first time. The institute most involved in classified research was Rand Corporation, set up by the Air Force in 1948. The interlocks between the trustees at Rand, and the Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie foundations were so numerous that the Reece Committee listed them in its report (two each for Carnegie and Rockefeller, and three for Ford). Ford gave one million dollars to Rand in 1952 alone, at a time when the chairman of Rand was simultaneously the president of Ford Foundation."

"From the beginnings of the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), think tanks have worked closely with both the civilian and military leadership on a wide range of issues, from new technologies to military planning and operations, to help better protect American interests from ever-evolving threats."

Sources:
Sourcewatch
Wikipedia

Related:
Rand Names Carl Bildt As Its First Trustee From Outside The US
How Think Tanks Interact With The Military
RAND History and Mission