The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has its origins in the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was established in 1983 by Ronald Reagan which was headed by Lt. General James Alan Abrahamson. Under the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Sciences and Technology Office[2][3][4] headed by physicist and engineer Dr. James Ionson,[5][6][7][8] the investment was predominantly made in basic research at national laboratories, universities, and in industry.