Steven Popper

Dr. Steven W. Popper was a senior economist at RAND Corporation, a U.S. nonprofit institution that develops innovative solutions to public policy challenges and decision-making problems. He remains professor of Science and Technology Policy in the RAND School of Public Policy.

He served as associate director of the Science and Technology Policy Institute, where he directed studies on critical technology issues for the White House and other executive branch agencies (1996-2001), and also served as chair of the Industrial Science and Technology section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In addition, he has also served on several academic and international boards and has been a consultant to the World Bank, OECD, and the U.S. National Research Council.

He conducted several projects in Mexico prior to joining Tec. His RAND projects for governments around the world included work in energy, comparative economic systems, S&T policy, labor and social safety net policy, urban planning, transportation, defense and national security, regional economic development, and technology foresight and strategy, among others.

He was co-founder and chief operating officer of Evolving Logic Inc., a company that developed the revolutionary Computer Assisted Reasoning (CARs) system and a methodology called RAP™ (Robust Adaptive Planning) that became the basis for the new field of Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty (DMDU). He was a founder of the international DMDU Society and is its leadership team’s longest serving member.

Steven Popper joined Tecnológico de Monterrey as a Distinguished University Professor in Decision Sciences for the School of Social Sciences and Government and the School of Government and Public Transformation.

• Ph.D., Economics, University of California, Berkeley
• B.Sc., Biochemistry, University of Minnesota

• Systematic Method for Prioritizing Investments in Game-Changing Technologies: The Evaluation and Comparison Process Framework, with Richard Silberglitt, Cynthia R. Cook, Lisa Pelled Colabella, Paul Dreyer, Eric Hastings, Alexander C. Hou, Alexis Levedahl, Edward Parker, Scott Savitz, and Li Ang Zhang, RAND Corporation, RR-A632-1, 2022.

• Use of Predictive Analytic Tools to Assess Technological Emergences and Acquisition Targets, with Richard Silberglitt, Anna Jean Wirth, Christopher A. Eusebi, Inez Khan, Jasmin Léveillé. RAND Corporation, RR-A539-2, 2022

• Decision Making under Deep Uncertainty: From Theory to Practice, with Vincent A. W. J. Marchau, Warren E. Walker, Pieter J. T. M. Bloemen (eds.), Springer International Publishing (10.1007/978-3-030-05252-2), 2019.

• “Designing a Robust Decision–Based National Security Policy Process: Strategic Choices for Uncertain Times”, in Frank, A.B. and E.M. Bartels (eds.), Adaptive Engagement for Undergoverned Spaces: Concepts, Challenges, and Prospects for New Approaches, 2022.

• “Forecasts and decisions: A commentary on Lustick and Tetlock”, with Robert J. Lempert, Paul K. Davis, Tim McDonald, in Futures and Foresight Science 3 (2), June 2021. https://doi.org/10.1002/ffo2.81 <https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ffo2.81>

• China's Propensity for Innovation in the 21st Century: Identifying Indicators of Future Outcomes, with Marjory S. Blumenthal, Eugeniu Han, Sale Lilly, Lyle J. Morris, Caroline S. Wagner, Christopher A. Eusebi, Brian G. Carlson, and Alice Shih, RAND Corporation, RR-A208-1, 2020.

More information