George W. Downs (political scientist)
George Woodrow Downs, Jr. (August 6, 1946 โ January 21, 2015)[1] was an American political scientist and pioneer of the application of noncooperative game theory to international politics.[2] He was a professor of politics at New York University, where he served as chair of the political science department (1998โ2001), Dean of Social Science (2001โ2009), and later as the Bernhardt Denmark Professor of International Affairs. Before that, he had served as Boswell Professor of Peace and War at Princeton University from 1987 to 1998. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) in 2014. His books included The Search for Government Efficiency and Optimal Imperfection.
Early life and education
Downs earned a
Downs went on to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1976.[5] At Michigan, he held fellowships including the Rackham Prize Fellowship, Russell Sage Foundation Fellowship, and NIMH Fellowship,[5] and served in a number of leadership positions.[6] His dissertation was titled "Bureaucracy, Innovation and Public Policy," and was also published in book form by Lexington Books.[7]
Academic and administrative career
Downs taught at the
From there, Downs moved to New York University, where he served as chair of the Department of Politics from 1998 to 2001.[1] He then rose to Dean of Social Science, serving in that capacity until 2009.[1]
According to political scientist and Downs' colleague, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Downs was "the first scholar to use non-cooperative game theory to model the effects of domestic uncertainty on international negotiations and to identify how to use tacit bargaining ... to resolve disputes and arms races without coercion."[2] He is also known for his work developing the theory of coordination goods.[2]
Downs died of heart failure on January 21, 2015, shortly after falling asleep after watching the
Honors
- Leonard D. White Award (1977)
- Youden Prize, American Society for Quality Control (1982)[5]
- Louis Brownlow Book Award (1988)[8]
- Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2014)[9]
Works
- Bureaucracy, Innovation, and Public Policy (1976) OCLC 67504394
- The Search for Government Efficiency: From Hubris to Helplessness (1986; coauthored with Patrick Larkey) ISBN 9780394352138
- Tacit Bargaining, Arms Races, and Arms Control (1990; coauthored with David Rocke) ISBN 0472064509
- Collective security beyond the Cold War (1994) ISBN 0472104578
- Optimal Imperfection? Domestic Uncertainty and Institutions in International Relations (1997; coauthored with David Rocke) ISBN 0691016259
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Remembering George Downs, 1946-2015" (PDF) (PDF). New York University. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
- ^ a b c Tucker, Joshua (2015-01-22). "The political scientist George Downs has died". Washington Post.
- ^ "Early Entrance Admissions". Shimer College. Archived from the original on 2014-12-17. Retrieved 2015-01-31.
- ^ "Shimer Cagers Hope to Stage Surprises". Register-Republic. Rockford, Illinois. 1966-11-17.
- ^ a b c d e f Downs, George W. (2010). "VITA: George W. Downs" (PDF) (PDF). Retrieved 2015-02-01.
- ^ "George Downs passed away on January 21st, 2015". University of Michigan. 2015-01-26. Archived from the original on 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
- OCLC 67504394. Retrieved 2015-02-01 – via Worldcat.
- ^ "The Louis Brownlow Book Award: Previous Winners" (PDF) (PDF). Retrieved 2015-01-31.
- ^ "AAAS Elects Three NYU Faculty as 2014 Fellows". New York University. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2015-01-31.