Thao (Liz) Nguyen is an associate director of the management, technology, and capabilities program within the Homeland Security Research Division (HSRD) at RAND. She is a senior physical scientist with expertise in homeland security, requirements, and acquisition. Her research focuses on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of complex processes and organizations, requirements development, and acquisition analysis. She has led or conducted projects for the Department of Homeland Security, Department of the Air Force, Department of the Army, and Department of Commerce on a range of topics, including emerging technologies, CBRN and CWMD sensing and threat mitigation, artificial intelligence, border security, homeland and national security, and disaster recovery and response. Nguyen's scientific expertise includes the functionalization, synthesis, fabrication, application, and measurement of inorganic, metallic, and polymer-based nanomaterials. She was a postdoctoral research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Maryland.
B.S. in chemistry, Lafayette College; Ph. D. in chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park
Vietnamese
Associate Program Director, HSRD, Management, Technology, & Capabilities (MTC) Program
