Meet the team
Dr. W. Bryan Higgins
Lead Applied Behavioral Scientist
Dr. William Bryan Higgins is a lead applied behavioral scientist at The MITRE Corporation where he applies his expertise in behavioral science theory and methodology to insider threat, personnel vetting, and research security challenges. Since joining MITRE’s Insider Threat Research & Solutions team in 2018, he has helped advance innovative, methodologically rigorous research to support applied practitioners across government, industry, and academia.
Dr. Higgins has held technical and leadership roles across a broad portfolio of insider risk and research security efforts. Most recently, he helped lead MITRE’s Behavioral Analysis of Background Investigations, which analyzed 45,000 National Security Background Investigation cases to better understand investigative processes and identify key behavioral criteria used in adjudicative decision-making. He has also contributed to multiple research security initiatives supporting higher education, including the creation of a reference manual to help research security programs build and integrate insider risk capabilities, the development of education and awareness materials designed for researchers, and tailoring tools to identify role-based risk. In addition, Dr. Higgins was the principal investigator for inaugural research examining the potential use of protective factors in personnel vetting and insider risk programs.
Prior to joining MITRE, Dr. Higgins worked in the private sector leading and supporting projects for federal and state government sponsors. He brought advanced expertise in survey design, quantitative and qualitative data collection, and statistical analyses to work spanning health surveillance, elections, non-profit research activities, transportation issues, disaster preparedness, and educational evaluations. Dr. Higgins holds a Ph.D. in Human Ecology (Child and Family Studies) from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; a MSW from the University of South Carolina; and a B.S. in Psychology from Virginia Tech.