General (ret) Robin Rand has been named Interim Executive Director of the Oklahoma Aerospace and Defense Innovation Institute at the University of Oklahoma, effective Oct. 16, 2023. The University of Oklahoma and the U.S. Air Force Sustainment Center announced the passing of Lt Gen (ret) Donald “Gene” Kirkland on Oct. 5, 2023. Kirkland served as the institute’s inaugural executive director since 2021.
“Lt Gen Kirkland’s legacy and impact has left deep roots. We are deeply grateful for his exceptional service to our country, to our university and to his community. We thank Gen Rand for his continued support of OU and OADII while we seek to maintain the level of excellence Gene established,” said OU Vice President for Research and Partnerships Tomás Díaz de la Rubia.
After more than 40 years of active duty service in the United States Air Force, Gen Rand served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Gary Sinise Foundation, a veterans and first responders non-profit support organization, from Sept. 2018 through July 2021. He has also held positions as the Chairman of the Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings Chairman Board of Trustees until April 2023 and as a Top Aces Corporation proxy board of directors’ member until July 2023. He has served as policy advisor to the OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships since 2021 and helped establish the Oklahoma Aerospace Defense Innovation Institute. As OADII’s Interim Executive Director, he will work to maintain OADII’s efforts to support convergent research that is working to solve the nation’s most pressing aerospace and defense challenges, and he will lead the hiring search committee for the permanent executive director role.
“Gene Kirkland was a superior leader and friend to so many, and he will be deeply, deeply missed,” Rand said. “Despite these terribly sad circumstances, I am humbled by the confidence Dr. Tomás Díaz de la Rubia and President Joseph Harroz have shown me. I am very honored to join the OADII team as the interim executive director during this transition period.”
In addition to this role, Rand serves as an Air and Spaces Forces Association board of directors member, a United States Air Force Academy Falcon Foundation trustee, a LEONID board of advisors member, a Baker Donelson strategic advisor in government relations and public policy, the managing director of Victory Strategies, a United States Air Force adjunct contract professor and senior mentor, and a senior consultant for several defense industry companies.
He entered the service in 1974 and graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aviation Science. He has a Master of Science degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Arts degree in national security policy from the Naval War College. During his military career, which included six overseas assignments, he had multiple flying assignments; served as an air liaison officer with the U.S. Army; completed staff tours on the Joint Staff, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, and Headquarters Air Force; and had eight different command assignments. He is a command pilot with over 5,100 flying hours, mostly in the F-16, including more than 480 combat hours.
