Sophia Lander
PhD Student
The University of Texas at Austin
Sophia Lander is a PhD student in the Government Department at the University of
Texas at Austin. She studies international political economy and formal and statistical methods to
better understand how firms and governments interact. Her previous research has focused on
arbitration and dispute resolution mechanisms in international treaties, and her current work is
oriented toward uncovering the underlying mechanisms behind technological innovation in
complex economic systems. Prior to attending UT Austin, Sophia completed her Bachelor of
Arts in Political Science at Columbia University and interned at Metrea, where she was first
introduced to defense analytics. Her research on game-theoretic approaches to wargaming was
awarded the 2024 Military Operations Research Society’s Eugene Visco Prize.
