Short answers, pulled from the story.
The RAND Corporation was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation on the 14th of May 1948. It originated as Project RAND which began operations under a special contract with the Douglas Aircraft Company on the 1st of October 1945.
General Henry H. Arnold and Douglas executive Franklin R. Collbohm initiated the project after a conversation in September 1945. Douglas engineer Arthur Emmons Raymond coined the name Project RAND from research and development while Albert Wohlstetter later shaped early Cold War theories.
RAND researchers developed packet switching technology used to build the Internet through ARPANET networks. Paul Baran developed packet switching while Cliff Shaw invented the linked list and co-authored the first artificial intelligence program alongside John von Neumann.
The organization maintains American locations including Santa Monica California headquarters Arlington Virginia Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Boston Massachusetts. RAND Europe is incorporated in Cambridge The Hague and Brussels with additional offices in New Orleans Louisiana and Canberra Australia.
Thirty-two recipients of the Nobel Prize have been associated with RAND at some point in their career primarily in economics and physics. Notable laureates include Kenneth Arrow Robert Aumann John Forbes Nash Jr Harry Markowitz Edmund Phelps Thomas Schelling Oliver Williamson and Herbert Simon.