April 10, 2020

RAND has received a $10 million gift from the family of former Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci. The gift will support the Pardee RAND Graduate School, including naming the graduate school deanship.

Frank Carlucci, who passed away in 2018, served on the RAND Board of Trustees for nearly 25 years. The gift is part of RAND’s $400 million Tomorrow Demands Today fundraising campaign, which aims to expand the capacity of RAND and the Pardee RAND Graduate School to develop objective, fact-based policy recommendations and initiatives that communities and societies worldwide can put to use in solving their most urgent problems.

“RAND has greatly benefited from Frank Carlucci’s vast experience and from the incredible generosity he and his wife Marcia have shown our organization over the years as advisors and philanthropists,” said Michael D. Rich, president and CEO of nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND. “We are deeply honored that the Carlucci name will be linked to the Pardee RAND deanship and extremely thankful for Marcia’s commitment to support our graduate school and its students for years to come.”

Frank Carlucci had a long career as a senior-level government official, serving under Presidents Ford, Carter, Nixon and Reagan. He served as deputy secretary of defense (1981-’83), deputy director of the CIA (1978-’81), ambassador to Portugal, undersecretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, and director of the Office of Economic Opportunity.

He joined RAND’s Board of Trustees in 1983, stepping down in 1986 after Reagan appointed him national security advisor and, in 1987, secretary of defense. He rejoined the board in 1989 and served almost without break until 2007, when he became trustee emeritus. He also worked during that time as the chairman of The Carlyle Group, a global investment firm in Washington, D.C. Carlucci was a founding member of the advisory board of the RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy, which he co-chaired with Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s national security adviser.

“Frank Carlucci’s extraordinary career and deep commitment to public service is and will be an inspiration to me and to all future deans. I greatly appreciate the trust of the Carlucci family to allow Pardee RAND to carry forward Frank and Marcia’s legacy,” said Susan L. Marquis, the Frank and Marcia Carlucci Dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and vice president of innovation at RAND.

In addition to providing a title to the role of the Pardee RAND dean, this gift will provide both immediate support for the dean’s highest priorities, as well as an endowment to support the graduate school’s future needs. It will also provide financial aid for students and create an endowed fellowship that will offer dissertation support to students.

“Our family has a rich history with RAND and a deep connection to Pardee RAND. In addition to Frank’s longtime service as a RAND trustee, our daughter, Kristin, served as a RAND researcher and her husband, Joshua, is a Pardee RAND graduate,” said Marcia Carlucci, who currently serves on the boards of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation.

“The problems the world faces now are so complex, but I trust Pardee RAND to help develop the answers that will be needed to solve them. I know firsthand that the school trains students to be leaders who are committed to the public good, and I want to make sure Pardee RAND has the resources to continue this important work,” Marcia Carlucci added.

Prior to this gift, Marcia and Frank Carlucci contributed more than $2 million in scholarship support to the Pardee RAND Graduate School.