January 28, 2021

Thanks to the continuing generosity of Frederick S. Pardee, the Pardee RAND Graduate School is establishing a new student housing community, a first for the graduate school. Pardee, a former RAND researcher and longtime supporter of the school who currently serves as a member of the Pardee RAND Board of Governors, has gifted two apartment buildings valued at $10 million.

“The apartment buildings will provide more affordable housing for our students and their families. And the community it enables will help enrich the entire graduate school experience,” said Michael D. Rich, president and CEO of RAND. “This gift builds on Fred Pardee’s long history of support for RAND and for the school that bears his name. We are deeply honored by his extraordinary generosity, which will benefit our students and the entire Pardee RAND community for many years to come.”

The buildings, which will be called Pardee Commons, are located in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, approximately three miles from the graduate school and within walking distance to shops, restaurants, and public transportation. In addition to providing subsidized housing for students, Pardee Commons will help establish a community for mutual academic and social support. The buildings will serve as an informal common space for small-group seminars, study groups, or social events.

“We know that learning does not stop when students leave the classroom. A dedicated shared space to foster connections, provide mutual support, and a safe and supportive environment for students and their families will enable our students to enjoy each other and thrive in our program,” said Susan L. Marquis, the Frank and Marcia Carlucci Dean of the Pardee RAND Graduate School and vice president of innovation at RAND. “We are extremely thankful for Fred Pardee’s significant investment in student life and learning, and we look forward to hosting Pardee RAND community gatherings and celebrations at the new Pardee Commons.”

The gift is part of RAND’s Tomorrow Demands Today fundraising campaign, a critical priority of which is to catalyze a new era of problem solving through the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

“Students who join the Pardee RAND Graduate School community are passionate about confronting the world’s largest and most urgent challenges,” said Pardee, who worked as an economic analyst at RAND before founding a privately held real estate investment and management firm. “My hope is that a student housing option will help relieve the burden of finding and affording housing in Los Angeles so that students and their families can focus on building relationships with each other and making the world a better place.”

With his new gift, Pardee has contributed nearly $27 million to the Pardee RAND Graduate School and $5 million to RAND. His long history of support includes a $5 million donation to RAND in 2001 to create the RAND Frederick S. Pardee Center for Longer Range Global Policy and the Human Condition. In 2003, he made a $10 million contribution to the RAND Graduate School’s endowment, and the school was renamed in his honor. In 2012, he donated $3.6 million to Pardee RAND to support the school’s endowment and establish the school’s Pardee Initiative for Global Human Progress. In 2018, Pardee built on his earlier gift and pledged $3 million to continue to support the Global Human Progress initiative and the globalization of the redesigned Pardee RAND.