MORS-Talk

Senior Joint Military Operations and Wargaming Analyst for the Joint Advanced Warfighting Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Joslyn is a senior Joint Military Operations and Wargaming Analyst for the Joint Advanced Warfighting Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. Her game research and design has largely focused on great power competition, distributed logistics, and risk literacy. She received a Master of Science in Terrorism and Homeland Security Policy at American University’s School of Public Affairs following her Peace Corps service in Zambia.

In addition, she is the co-chair of Connections Next Generation, Head of Programming for the Women’s Wargaming Network, a wargaming instructor for the Military Operations Research Society, and a Research Associate for the wargaming blog, PAXsims. In the Fall of 2024, she will be leading a course at Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of International Affairs as a senior lecturer on wargaming studies.

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for New American Security Instructor and Course Coordinator on Gaming, Military Operations Research Society Principal, MonksHood Media LLC

Dr. McGrady writes, speaks, and teaches on the design of professional games. He is an adjunct senior fellow in gaming at CNAS, teaches and manages game design courses for MORS/Virginia Tech, and runs a business devoted to using games and game techniques to bring innovative experiences in new areas. His recent book, Roll to Save: Gaming Disease Response, describes designing games in support of public health professionals.

In the past Dr. McGrady built and directed a team of 10-20 analysts at CNA devoted to the design and execution of professional games. Dr. McGrady has written, taught, and presented on the topic of games and their use in organizational and individual learning. He has designed and run games for many different clients ranging from the White House to the Department of Agriculture to the automotive industry. Dr. McGrady has also built a team at CNA devoted to chemical and biological response operations, including domestic response operations.

Dr. McGrady has deployed as an analyst with US Forces in Haiti during operation Uphold Democracy, onboard USS Nimitz for Desert Storm and with operational E-2C squadrons. Dr. McGrady holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan. He has published extensively in the Chemical Engineering, physics, and national security literature and is widely cited for his work on the mathematics of aggregation and fragmentation.

Adjunct Senior Fellow, Center for New American Security Instructor and Course Coordinator on Gaming, Military Operations Research Society Principal, MonksHood Media LLC

Ricardo Valerdi is a Professor and Head of the Department of Systems & Industrial Engineering at the University of Arizona. He is also the UA’s Faculty Athletics Representative to the Big 12 Conference. His research focuses on cost estimation, sports analytics, and decision making. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, Army, Navy, Air Force, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

He is the founder of Science of Sport, a non-profit dedicated to STEM education through sports. He has developed STEM education programs for NFL, MLB, NBA, and MLS teams. He received a Ph.D. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Southern California.