Institute for Defense Analyses

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The Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) is a "federally funded research and development center established to assist the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Commands, and Defense Agencies in addressing important national security issues, particularly those requiring scientific and technical expertise. IDA also conducts related research for other government agencies on national problems for which the Institute's skills and experience are especially suited. As a federally funded research and development center, IDA only works for the government. To avoid institutional pressures to support Service positions, IDA does not work directly for the military departments. Also, to ensure freedom from commercial or other potential conflicts of interest, IDA does not work for private industry or foreign governments.

"IDA takes great pride in the high caliber and timeliness of its analyses, which are produced in an atmosphere that encourages independent thinking and objective results. While working closely with sponsors to define research goals, IDA enforces a rigorous review to ensure its analyses and conclusions are thorough and sound."[1]

IDA's History

"IDA traces its roots to 1947, when Secretary of Defense James Forrestal established the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group (WSEG) to provide technical analyses of weapons systems and programs. In the mid-1950s, the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to form a civilian, nonprofit research institute. The Institute would operate under the auspices of a university consortium to attract highly qualified scientists to assist WSEG in addressing the nation's most challenging security problems.

"Over the years, IDA has modified its structure to remain responsive to sponsor needs. In 1958, at the request of the Secretary of Defense, IDA established a division to support the newly created Advanced Research Projects Agency. Shortly thereafter, the mandate of this division was broadened to include scientific and technical studies for all offices of the Director of Defense, Research and Engineering. Subsequent divisions were established to provide cost analyses, computer software and engineering, strategy and force assessments, and operational test and evaluation. We created the Simulation Center in the early 1990s to focus on advanced distributed simulation, and most recently, established the Joint Advanced Warfighting Program to develop new operational concepts.

"Throughout its history, IDA also has assisted other federal agencies. Recent work includes research in civil space, expert systems for criminal investigation, and energy and environmental issues."

Trustees

Accessed September 2009: [1]

  • John M. Palms, Chairman; President Emeritus, The University of South Carolina
  • David S.C. Chu - President, Institute for Defense Analyses; Former Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness); Assistant Secretary of Defense (Program Analysis and Evaluation)
  • Steve Abbot, USN (Ret.) - President and Chief Executive Officer, Navy Marine Corps Relief Society; Former Acting Homeland Security Advisor to the President
  • Edwin Dorn - Professor, LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin; Former Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness); Assistant Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness)
  • R. Keith Elliott - Retired Chairman and CEO, Hercules Incorporated
  • Carlton W. Fulford, Jr. USMC (Ret.) - Director, Africa Center for Strategic Studies (NDU); Former Deputy Commander, US European Command; Commanding General, Fleet Marine Force Pacific
  • Edward R. Jayne II - Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, and Managing Partner, Global Aerospace, Defense, and Aviation Practice, Heidrick & Struggles; Former President, McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Company and Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
  • Martha A. Krebs - Energy Research and Development Division, California Energy Commission; Former Assistant Secretary and Director, Office of Science, Department of Energy
  • Jill P. Mesirov - Associate Institute Director, Chief Informatics Officer, and Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology Programs, The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute, MIT & Harvard University; Former Manager of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, IBM; Director of Research, Thinking Machines Corporation
  • William H. Press - Laboratory Senior Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Former Deputy Laboratory Director for Science, Technology & Programs, Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Robert L. Prestel - Trustee Emeritus; Former Deputy Director, National Security Agency
  • Thomas J. Ridge - President & CEO, Ridge Global LLC; Former Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Governor of Pennsylvania
  • Gordon R. Sullivan, USA (Ret.) - President, Association of the U.S. Army; Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Army
  • Larry Welch, USAF (Ret.) - Senior Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses; Former President, Institute for Defense Analyses; Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force
  • John P. White - Lecturer in Public Policy, JFK School of Government, Harvard University; Former Deputy Secretary of Defense; Deputy Director, OMB
  • Sheila E. Widnall - Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Former Secretary of the Air Force
  • Suzanne H. Woolsey - Paladin Capital Group; Former Chief Communications Officer, National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council

Leadership

Corporate Officers

Trustees

  • Dr. John M. Palms, Chairman; President, The University of South Carolina
  • Admiral Dennis C. Blair, USN (Ret.); Senior Fellow, Institute for Defense Analyses; (Former Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Command)
  • Dr. Jack R. Borsting (Trustee Emeritus); Professor of Business Administration and Dean Emeritus, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California; (Former Assistant Secretary of Defense (Comptroller))
  • Edwin Dorn; Dean and J.J. Pickle Regents Chair in Public Affairs, LBJ School of Public Affairs University of Texas at Austin; (Former Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness); Assistant Secretary of Defense (Personnel & Readiness))
  • R. Keith Elliott, Former Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hercules, Inc.
  • Dr. Claire M. Fraser, President and Director, The Institute for Genomic Research; (Former Chief of Molecular Neurobiology, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes for Health)
  • Ambassador Charles W. Freeman, Jr.; Chairman, Projects International, Inc.; (Former Assistant Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs); Ambassador to Saudi Arabia; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (African Affairs))
  • Dr. Edward R. Jayne, II; Partner, Heidrick & Struggles, and Managing Partner, Global Semiconductor, Hardware, & Systems Practice, Heidrick & Struggles; (Former President, McDonnell Douglas Missile Systems Company and Associate Director for National Security and International Affairs, Office of Management and Budget))
  • Dr. Martha A. Krebs; Science Strategies; (Former Assistant Secretary and Director of Office of Science, Department of Energy)

Dr. Jill P. Mesirov Director, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, Whitehead Institute/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Genome Research (Former Manager of Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, IBM; Director of Research, Thinking Machines Corporation)

(Former Chief of Staff, U.S. Air Force)

Senior Advisor to the Board

  • General Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (Ret.); Former President, Institute for Defense Analyses; Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy; Supreme Allied Commander, Europe; Commander-in-Chief, U.S. European Command

Contact

4850 Mark Center Drive
Alexandria, VA 22311-1882
703-845-2000
URL: http://www.ida.org

Resources and articles

Related Sourcewatch articles

References

  1. ↑ Trustees, Institute for Defense Analysis, accessed September 2, 2009.
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