Dr. Allison Astorino-Courtois: Chief Decision Sciences Officer

Dr. Allison Astorino-Courtois is NSI Chief Decision Sciences Officer. Dr. Astorino-Courtois is currently providing core support for a number of DoD Joint Staff and STRATCOM Strategic Multi-layer Analysis (SMA) projects including a refocusing of DoD deterrence planning to the decision calculus of the actor(s) to be deterred. She is also doing a decision and behavioral analysis of specific states and actors of particular interest to the Joint Staff, OSD and various Combatant Commands as well as the design and production of a 2nd and 3rd-order effects analysis tool for STRATCOM deterrence planners. Prior to joining NSI, Dr. Astorino-Courtois worked for SAIC where among other tasks she served as a STRATCOM liaison to U.S. and international communities. Prior to SAIC, Dr. Astorino-Courtois was a tenured Associate Professor of International Relations at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX where her research focused on the cognitive aspects of foreign policy decision making. She has received a number of academic grants and awards and has published articles in multiple peer-reviewed journals including International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Political Psychology, Journal of Politics and Conflict Management and Peace Science. She has also taught at Creighton University and as a visiting instructor at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Dr. Astorino-Courtois earned her Ph.D. in International Relations and MA in and Research Methodologies from New York University. Her BA is in political science from Boston College.