Dan Folk

Professional Bio
Dan Folk is a first-year graduate student in American Politics and International Relations. He completed his B.A. in International Politics in 2019 at Penn State and his M.A. in Public (Policy) Management in 2021 at Johns Hopkins University. His research interests involve cognitive bias and its impact on national security. Dan is particularly interested in how defense analysts cognitively process new information and how this is affected by training in the use of structured analytic techniques and the development of critical thinking skills.
Dan is coming to us from the Department of Defense where he has just completed a 3-yr rotation as an instructor teaching the fundamentals of analysis at the Joint Military Intelligence Training Center in Washington, D.C. He has over 20-years-experience working in the DoD, both in uniform and as a civilian. Dan has served in multiple analytic positions and has been a senior briefer at the Pentagon and a senior analyst in Afghanistan. Dan has two children, ages 8 and 11, plays the guitar, and enjoys wood-working.