BUD BLAYDES:
A EULOGY
Michael D. Rich
P-8071
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PREFACE
This Paper contains the eulogy delivered by Michael Rich, Executive Vice
President of RAND, at a memorial service in honor of Bud Blaydes, held at
Brentwood Presbyterian Church, on February 26, 1999.
BUD BLAYDES: A EULOGY
February 26, 1999
I want to begin by thanking Soonja and the rest of the Blaydes family for the chance to
be part of today’s service. Bud is an important part of the RAND family and Melinda,
Peg, and I feel privileged to be included this afternoon. Jim Thomson, who is RAND’s
president, is in Europe, but if he could have been here, I can guarantee you that he
would have pulled rank in order to speak in my place.
Bud came to RAND in 1990 as Director of Security and eventually became Director of
Security and Administration. The director of security is an important role at any
organization, I know, but it’s especially important at RAND. That’s because security is
central to RAND’s comparative and competitive advantage—and therefore, so was Bud.
The keys to our success are the creativity of our staff and the trust we have earned from
our clients. It’s why we are often asked to tackle the toughest and most sensitive
problems. Bud protected our people so that they could do their best work and he
protected the sensitive information they worked with so that we could retain the trust of
our clients.
He was almost certainly the best educated person ever to be director of security at
RAND. An undergraduate degree in economics from Washington University in St.
Louis. A masters in international affairs from the University of Washington in Seattle.
Graduate of both the Air War College and Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Plus
an MBA.
Bud was a consummate professional. He was well-known and well-respected by his
peers and well-liked by those who worked with him. He carried a heavy burden—on call
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and with responsibilities that were more consequential
than most. His hard work resulted in numerous awards and commendations from the
Department of Defense and various law enforcement agencies. What impressed Jim and
me more than anything is how much Bud believed in RAND’s mission, how well he
understood RAND’s culture and its importance to our success, how deeply he cared
about RAND’s people and its clients, and how skillful and imaginative he was in
balancing all of that with the many requirements of security. When Bud’s time at RAND
came to an end, Jim and I spoke about him and agreed that we could not have asked for
more in a leader and a manager and a friend.
I worked closely with Bud on many, many occasions. I saw him in the role of strategist,
policymaker, adminstrator, crisis manager, and, once, after a particularly threatening
letter, he even served as my bodyguard for a spell (that was his idea, not mine, by the
way). Of course, I also saw him as a public speaker and when we were on the same
program I made it a point always to go first. He was a hard act to follow and he will be
impossible to forget.
He was taken away from us much too soon, but all of us at RAND are very grateful for
the time we had with him.