Senior Policy Researcher; Professor of Policy Analysis, RAND School of Public Policy
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Daniel M. Gerstein is a senior policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy. Previously, he served at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as under secretary (acting) and deputy under secretary in the Science & Technology Directorate.
He has extensive experience in security and defense while serving as a Senior Executive Service (SES) government civilian, in uniform, and in industry. He is also an adjunct professor at American University in Washington, D.C. In DHS S&T, he managed the directorate's $1-billion budget and spearheaded several cross-departmental efforts in cybersecurity and biodefense.
Gerstein began his professional career in the U.S. Army, serving on four continents, participating in combat, peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance, counterterrorism, and homeland security. Following retirement from active duty, he joined L-3 Corporation as vice president for Homeland Security Services. Before joining DHS, Gerstein was the principal director for Countering WMD in OSD (Policy). He also served on the Holbrooke Delegation that negotiated the peace settlement in Bosnia, established SOUTHCOM's cybersecurity facility following 9/11, and developed a biosurveillance system for DoD.
He has received many foreign, military, and civilian awards, including the U.S. Army Soldiers Medal for heroism. He has published numerous books and articles on national security topics and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Gerstein graduated from West Point and has a Ph.D. from George Mason University and master's degrees from Georgia Tech, National Defense University, and Army Command & General Staff College.
Ph.D. in biodefense, George Mason University; M.S. in national security, National Defense University; M.M.A.S. in national security strategy, U.S. Army Command & General Staff College; M.S. in operations research, Georgia Institute of Technology; B.S. in engineering, United States Military Academy
