Katherine L. Kuzminski

Katherine L. Kuzminski (formerly Kidder) is the Deputy Director of Studies, and the Director of the Military, Veterans, and Society (MVS) Program at CNAS. Her research specializations include Department of Defense institutional and organizational design and management; military recruitment, retention, and talent management policy; veteran and military family issues; and civil-military relations.

Kuzminski returns to CNAS from the RAND Corporation, where she was a political scientist researching military personnel policy. During her time at RAND, she led research teams examining officer personnel management, reserve component transition issues, senior officer selection and development, military culture, and ground force capability development.

From 2013 to 2017, Kuzminski served as a Research Associate, Bacevich Fellow, and Fellow for the CNAS MVS Program. In her previous time at CNAS, she led the CNAS Women in National Security research portfolio and the Rebuilding the Bipartisan Defense Consensus Project and contributed to the development of the Veteran’s Data Project.

Kuzminski has testified before the congressionally mandated National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service. Her research and analysis have been featured on NPR, BBC, Federal News Radio, NBC Nightly News, The Washington Post, and Politico. She is completing her PhD in security studies from Kansas State University, where she earned her BS in military history and an MA in security studies.