C. West Churchman

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Charles West Churchman (29 August 1913 – 21 March 2004) was an American

Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He was internationally known for his pioneering work in operations research, system analysis and ethics.[1]

Biography

Churchman was born in 1913 in

Edgar A. Singer, who had been a student at Harvard of the philosopher and psychologist William James
.

Before completing his dissertation, in 1937, he became Instructor of Philosophy, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Churchman's dissertation was ultimately completed under Henry Bradford Smith, titled "Towards a General Logic of Propositions" (1938).

Cleveland, Ohio, and until 1957 he was Professor of Engineering Administration at Case. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley
and remained there as a Professor Emeritus after his retirement.

During 1946–1954, he served as the secretary and program chairman of the American

INFORMS, and was its ninth president in 1962. In 1989, Churchman was elected president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences
.

Churchman edited the journal Philosophy of Science for a long period beginning in 1948. He was also the first editor-in-chief of the journal

Management Science
in 1954.

Churchman has been cited by Noam Chomsky as the only professor from whom he learned anything as an undergraduate.[citation needed] European students of C. West Churchman are Werner Ulrich and Kristo Ivanov who developed his work in related fields[5] and contributed to its diffusion in Europe. American students of Churchman who have documented their understanding and application of his work are Ian Mitroff and Richard O. Mason [6]

Churchman died in 2004 in Bolinas, California.

Work

Churchman made significant contributions in the fields of

city planning, education, mental health, space exploration, and peace and conflict studies.[1]

Churchman became internationally recognized due to his then radical concept of incorporating ethical values into operating systems. Hasan Ozbekhan, his friend, in The Predicament of Mankind proposal to the Club of Rome[7] incorporated ethical values in the 49 Continuous Critical Problems that constitute the Global Problematique. The proposal was not accepted because it was "too humanistic" [8]

Personal life

His wife Gloria Churchman died in 2009. About her husband, she said, "Academic philosophy wasn't satisfying to him. He demanded that philosophy have meaning in the world. He wanted to insert an ethical dimension into science. And he really made it his job to remind all these CEOs that they had ethical responsibilities."[citation needed]

"He was a tremendous teacher. People would flock to his class," Gloria Churchman said. "He always kept you on the edge of your chair, because he was a very, very exciting lecturer. He had students from everywhere, all over the world."[citation needed]

Professor Churchman and Gloria Churchman are survived by their son Daniel Wharton Churchman (Josh) of Bolinas, his daughter-in-law Joy Churchman and two grandchildren, Jenna and Kyle Churchman.

Recognition

Churchman's honors include the

University of Lund, Sweden in 1984, and the Umeå University, Sweden in 1986. In 1983, Churchman received the Berkeley Citation
, one of the campus's highest awards. In 1999 he received the LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement in Information Systems. He was elected to the 2002 class of Fellows of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences.[11]

The West Churchman Memorial Prize was awarded in 2014, during the 10th Brazilian Congress of systems, conducted by CORS - USP, after a selection carried out by an editorial committee, composed of researchers from several countries. The purpose of it was to provide recognition to an important systemic research work developed within the highest ethical and methodological standards as advocated C. West Churchman.[12]

Publications

Churchman wrote some 15 books and edited another 9 books:[13]

  • 1938, Towards a General Logic of Propositions, Ph.D. Dissertation.
  • 1940, Elements of Logic and Formal Science, J.B. Lippincott Co., New York.
  • 1940, Euclid Vindicated of Every Blemish, Translator, Saccheri's.
  • 1946, Psychologistics, with Russell L. Ackoff.
  • 1948, Theory of Experimental Inference, Macmillan Publishers, New York.
  • 1950, Methods of Inquiry: Introduction to Philosophy and Scientific Method, with Russell L. Ackoff, Educational Publications, St. Louis, Missouri, Missouri.
  • 1956, Costs, Utilities, and Values, Sections I and II.
  • 1957, Introduction to Operations Research, with Russell L. Ackoff & E.L. Arnoff, J. Wiley and Sons, New York.
  • 1960, Prediction and Optimal Decision, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
  • 1968, Challenge to Reason, McGraw-Hill, New York.
  • 1968/1979, The Systems Approach, Delacorte Press, New York.
  • 1971, The Design of Inquiring Systems, Basic Concepts of Systems and Organizations, Basic Books, New York.
  • 1975, Thinking for Decisions: Deductive Quantitative Methods, Science Research Associates, Chicago, Illinois.
  • 1979, The Systems Approach and Its Enemies, Basic Books, New York.
  • 1982, Thought and Wisdom; The Gaither Lectures, Intersystems Publications, Seaside, California.

Books edited by C. West Churchman.

  • 1947, Measurement of Consumer Interest, ed. with Russell L. Ackoff, and M. Wax.
  • 1959, Measurement: Definitions and Theories, ed. with P. Ratoosh.
  • 1959, Experience and Reflection by Edgar A. Singer, Jr., ed.
  • 1960, Management Sciences, ed. with M. Verhulst.
  • 1975, Systems and Management Annual 1975, ed.
  • 1976, Design Methods and Theories, ed.
  • 1976, World Modelling: A Dialogue, ed. with R.O. Mason.
  • 1984, Natural Resources Administration: Introducing a New Methodology for Management Development, ed. with A.H. Rosenthal, and S.H. Smith.
  • 1989, The Well-Being of Organizations, ed.
  • 2011, The Permanent Revolution in Science. Richard L. Schanck and C. West Churchman, (Reissue of 1954 book). New York, Philosophical Library, Introduction by C. West Churchman.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Kathleen Maclay (2004)."C. West Churchman dies". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2010-10-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), UC Berkeley Press Release, 31 March 2004. Retrieved 8 May 2008.
  2. ISBN 978-1-4419-6280-5
    .
  3. ^ Richard O. Mason (2004), "IFORS’ Operational Research Hall of Fame : C. West Churchman" in: Intl. Trans. in Op. Res. Vol 11 pp 585–588
  4. S2CID 143750502
    . Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  5. ^ For an extension of Churchman's concepts to philosophy of science in general and informatics or computer science in particular, see Ivanov's Index to Churchman's "The Design of Inquiring Systems". Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  6. ^ Charles West Churchman—Philosopher of Management: An Interview with Richard O. Mason Conducted by Ian I. Mitroff. Retrieved 3 March 2023.
  7. ^ Ozbekhan, H. (1970). The Predicament of Mankind: A Quest for Structured Responses to Growing World-Wide Complexities and Uncertainties. www.redesignresearch.com/docs/ThePredicamentofMankind.pdf
  8. ^ Christakis, A.N.(1998) The Club of Rome Revisited in General Systems, W.L. Reckmeyer (ed.) International Society for the Systems Sciences, Vol XXXI
  9. ^ C. West Churchman, Ninth President of TIMS 1962 Archived 2006-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 22 October 2007.
  10. ^ View/Search Fellows of the ASA Archived 2016-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 2016-08-20.
  11. ^ Fellows: Alphabetical List, Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, retrieved 2019-10-09
  12. doi:10.1002/sres.2376
    .
  13. ^ An overview of his articles is given in: Werner Ulrich (2006),"A Bibliography of C.W. Churchman's Writings from 1938 to 2001". Archived from the original on 2009-08-07. Retrieved 2010-10-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) . Werner Ulrich's Home Page: C.W. Churchman. Retrieved 10 May 2008.

External links

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