April 19, 2013 -- The RAND Corporation Board of Trustees has elected former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House as its new chair, the Santa Monica-based non-profit research organization announced Thursday.

As publisher of the nation’s largest newspaper from 2002 to 2006, House was responsible for all news, editorial, sales and other business functions of the Journal and its editions around the world.

House joined the newspaper in 1974 and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for her coverage of the Middle East. She is the author of the 2012 book “On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines–and Future.”

“Karen Elliott House brings deep understanding of global and national affairs to the RAND Board,” said RAND President and CEO Michael D. Rich. “Her experience will help ensure that RAND continues to shape policy and decision-making at all levels of government and beyond.”

Richard Danzig, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, was elected to succeed House as vice chairman of the Board, Rich said. Kenneth Feinberg and Ambassador Philip Lader, who have long associations with RAND, were elected to the board.

“Ken and Phil bring important expertise to RAND's governing body from their service in the public and private sectors,” Rich said. “Their wisdom and experience, together with the rest of our distinguished board members, are more than a credit to the institution, they ensure that we fulfill our public service charter.”

Feinberg -- a managing partner of Feinberg Rozen, LLP, a Washington, D.C. law firm that is a leader in dispute resolution -- served as special master of the U.S. government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and as the special master for TARP executive compensation, a role that won him the unofficial title of “pay czar.”

Lader, who previously served as a RAND trustee from 2001 to 2011, is a former U.S. ambassador to the Court of St. James's (1997–2001). He currently serves as chairman of WPP plc, the global advertising and communications services company that includes J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather and other companies in 110 countries.

House succeeds Paul G. Kaminski, a technology company executive and former Pentagon official who chairs the Defense Science Board. Kaminski served as RAND's chairman since 2009.