Agnes Gereben Schaefer

Agnes Gereben Schaefer is a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Her research specializations include issues related to national security strategy, emerging threats, U.S. military personnel policy, reserve component issues, and homeland security/homeland defense issues. Since joining RAND in 2005, Schaefer has conducted more than 50 studies for senior civilian and military leaders, including: an assessment of the implications of allowing transgender military personnel to serve openly; integrating women into the USMC infantry and Special Operations Forces (SOF); assessments of the implications of allowing gays and lesbians to serve openly in the U.S. military; a Congressionally-mandated review of the provision of employment services for reserve component members; the development of a Defense Sector Assessment Rating Tool, as assessment of the security situation in Mexico and several other studies related to national security strategy. She has published articles in a range of journals, and has been interviewed by various media outlets including: the Associated Press, BBC, CBS News, CNN, The Economist, Fox News, The New York Times, PBS News Hour, Reuters, Time Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and USA Today. Schaefer received her Ph.D. from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Before joining RAND, Schaefer was a postdoctoral research associate and lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.