Angela O'Mahony

Angela O'Mahony is Chair of RAND's Human Subjects Protection Committee, a Senior Political Scientist, and Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. She is affiliated with the RAND Corporation, a leading public policy research organization. Her work integrates academic research with national security and defense policy, focusing on complex systems and international relations.

• Ph.D. in Political Science, UC San Diego
• B.A. in Economics and Political Science, UCLA

Her research interests span security cooperation, defense policy, computational social-behavioral modeling, and conflict forecasting. She investigates how multinational forces achieve interoperability, how public support for terrorism can be projected, and how uncertainty affects decisionmaking in complex environments. Her methodological expertise includes modeling complex adaptive systems and integrating data-driven with theory-driven research.

The 15 most recent articles reflect a consistent focus on military affairs, global security, and policy analysis, with recurring themes in interoperability, deterrence, security cooperation, and ethical modeling. The publications demonstrate a trajectory toward refining decision-support tools for defense planning and improving how policy studies account for complexity and uncertainty.

Her scientific recognition includes:

• RAND's Innovation Award (Inaugural Winner, 2015) for incorporating social media into public policy analysis

She has taught courses on policymaking in complex environments and international security, and previously served as an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia. She advises on large-scale research ethics as chair of the Human Subjects Protection Committee. Her projects have been supported by defense-related funding, including from DARPA, and have influenced U.S. Army planning and security cooperation frameworks. She has co-edited a major volume on social-behavioral modeling and continues to publish extensively in high-impact policy journals.

She leads research teams focused on defense institution building, biosurveillance, virtual currency implications, and the integration of women into special operations forces. Her work often involves interdisciplinary collaboration across political science, computer science, and military strategy.