Laura Freeman

laura.freeman@vt.edu

Laura Freeman

Deputy Director, Virginia Tech National Security Institute

Laura Freeman is the deputy director of the Virginia Tech National Security Institute. Her research leverages experimental methods for conducting research that brings together cyber-physical systems, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning to address critical challenges in national security. She is also a hub faculty member in the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative and leads research in AI Assurance. She develops new methods for test and evaluation focusing on emerging system technology. She is also the Assistant Dean for Research for the College of Science; in that capacity she works to shape research directions and collaborations in across the College of Science. She previously served as the Intelligent Systems Division director.

Previously, Freeman was the assistant director of the Operational Evaluation Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses. In that position, she established and developed an interdisciplinary analytical team of statisticians, psychologists, and engineers to advance scientific approaches to DoD test and evaluation. In 2018, Freeman served as that acting senior technical advisor for Director Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). As the senior technical advisor, Freeman provided leadership, advice, and counsel to all personnel on technical aspects of testing military systems. She reviewed test strategies, plans, and reports from all systems on DOT&E oversight.

Freeman has a B.S. in aerospace engineering, a M.S. in statistics and a Ph.D. in statistics, all from Virginia Tech. Her Ph.D. research was on design and analysis of experiments for reliability data.