Researcher

Dr. Donna H. Rhodes is a principal research scientist in the Sociotechnical Systems Research Center (SSRC) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is the co-founder and director of MIT’s Systems Engineering Advancement Initiative (SEAri), a research group focused on advancing the theories, methods, and effective practice of systems engineering applied to complex sociotechnical systems.  She teaches graduate courses on systems architecting applied to enterprises, and model-based systems architecting and engineering.  She is the principal investigator for numerous sponsored research projects and advises graduate student in multiple programs at MIT. 

Dr. Rhodes conducts research on innovative approaches and methods for architecting and design of complex systems and enterprises, digital engineering transformation, human-model interaction, model curation, and predictive indicators of performance. She is involved in research across multiple sectors including defense, aerospace, transportation, energy and commercial products.

Prior to joining MIT in 2003, Dr. Rhodes held senior management positions in systems engineering and enterprise practices at IBM Federal Systems, Lockheed Martin, and Lucent Technologies. She received her Ph.D. in Systems Science from the T.J. Watson School of Engineering at Binghamton University.   She engages with government and industry leaders through collaborative research, consulting engagements and executive courses. She has been very involved in the evolution of the systems engineering field, including development of several university graduate programs. Dr. Rhodes is a past president and fellow of the International Council on Systems Engineering, and a recipient of INCOSE’s Founders Award and several distinguished service awards.