Claire Haas, from the Information Technology and Systems Division, is the winner of the 2023 David S. C. Chu Award for Excellence in Research. The award, named in honor of the former IDA President, is presented annually to a Research Associate who has made one or more outstanding analytic contributions in support of IDA’s mission.

Claire has made significant contributions to the Illuminating Foreign Influence and Technology Exploitation and Supply Chain Resilience projects. For the Gray Zone Competition project, she built the Sanctions Dashboard, which provides a single repository for all sanction mechanisms extant across the federal government. This information was not available previously from a single source.

She also served as a team captain for the November 2021 debate on breaking up big technology companies. Claire and her team helped IDA pioneer a formal debate format for discussing current events that have no clear resolution. In July 2023, she and her fellow team captain published a report on the debate topic.

Claire reflects the outstanding qualities IDA seeks in its best researchers at all levels. She provides her team with analytical guidance and transitions from individual contributor to task lead as needed.

Claire earned a bachelor’s degree in economics and a bachelor’s degree in government and politics from the University of Maryland in 2019. She earned a master’s degree in international security and economic policy from the University of Maryland School of Public Policy in 2021.