N. Peter Whitehead

N. Peter Whitehead

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N. Peter Whitehead is a RAND Senior Engineer and Professor of Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. He recently led a project on the cost benefit analysis of digital engineering for the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and a project on rapid software development for the Army G2. His current projects include studies on the space industrial base and supply chain risk management in space systems, and a FEMA COVID public assistance expense analyses. Recent work also includes Supply Chain Interdependence and Geopolitical Vulnerability: The Case of Taiwan and High-End Semiconductors and a DARPA project on social polling and predictive analysis. Peter came to RAND from MITRE where he worked with multiple sponsors and led a research program that leveraged AI at the edge in for scheduling veterans’ health resources. Prior to MITRE, he served as a Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the AAAS at NSF and at OSTP in the White House. Peter’s Ph.D. dissertation (2014) developed a machine learning approach to classify the quality of critical thinking in a systems approach. His other work experience includes: Program Manager at Lockheed Martin Corporation, Foreign Service Officer serving in 60 countries, Director of Research and Development at ViaSystems (Lucent Bell Labs spin-off), Consultant to the Army (G2), President of a systems analysis consulting firm, PM and engineer at Westinghouse Defense and at ITT Electro Optics Product Division. Research interests include the ethics and axiological aspects of AI and critical thinking in systems analysis. Peter is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, served as Vice Chair of the IEEE-USA Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems Policy and was selected as Distinguished Lecturer by the IEEE Systems Council. He served as the Editor of International Abstracts in Operations Research (2011-2018), (IFORS), and is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Systems Journal and of IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics. Peter earned an M.E. in electrical engineering, an M.E. in systems engineering, and a Doctor of Philosophy in systems and information engineering from the University of Virginia. He earned a BS in physics and mathematics and a BA in French from Washington and Lee University with honors. He is a member of Omega Rho, the Operations Research Academic Honor Society.

IEEE Systems Council Position History:
  • Present   Systems Journal Associate Editor (IEEE Systems Journal Editorial Board)
  • Recognitions:
  • 2019-2024 Distinguished Lecturer
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