Gregory Z. Bedny ( uk, Бєдний Григорій Захарович; October 8, 1938 – July 22, 2018), a Ukrainian-American psychologist, was the founder of the Systemic-Structural

Activity Theory Activity theory (AT; russian: link=no, Теория деятельности) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social-sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Sergei Rubinste ...

(SSAT). He developed the qualitative and quantitative methods of the assessment of complexity, reliability and efficiency of human performance and applied his methods to human-machine and human-computer interaction.

Biography

Gregory Bedny was raised in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

, Ukraine (the former Soviet Union). In the early years of his career he taught some technical subjects in the vocational training system and worked as an industrial engineer. This experience inspired some of his earliest research and publications. After defending his PhD in 1969, he worked as a professor of psychology at Odessa State Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture. At this university he created the first in Ukraine ergonomic laboratory and took part in writing the first program for teaching ergonomics at colleges. He was the first one in Ukraine to write a textbook in ergonomics. In 1987 Gregory Bedny was awarded the post doctorate degree (Doctor of Science) at the National Academy of Pedagogical Science in Moscow. After moving to the US in 1989 he taught psychology at

Essex County College Essex County College (ECC) is a public community college in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. History In August 1966, the Essex County Board of Freeholders approved the creation of Essex County College and in September 1968, more than a ...

and at

New Jersey Institute of Technology {{Infobox university , name = {{nowrap, New Jersey Institute of Technology , image = New Jersey IT seal.svg , image_upright = 0.9 , former_names = Newark College of Engineering (1930–1975)Ne ...

Academic work

He established and chaired the Systemic-Structural

session at the

International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics The International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) is an academic multi-conference that includes several affiliated conferences, jointly held under one management and one registration. The conference provides an internat ...

. Over the course of his life Gregory published 18 scholarly monographs (8 of them in English) and numerous articles in such subjects as psychology, ergonomics and theory of activity.

Selected publications

* Bedny, G. Z. and Bedny, I. S. (2018). ''Activity Studies Within the Framework of Ergonomics, Psychology, and Economics''. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. * Bedny, G. Z. (2014). ''Application of Systemic-Structural

to Design and Training''. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. * Bedny, G. Z., Bedny, I. S., and W. Karwowski (2014). ''Applying Systemic-Structural

to Design of Human-Computer Interaction Systems''. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. * Bedny, G. Z. and W. Karwowski (2006). ''A Systemic-Structural Theory of Activity: Applications to Human Performance and Work Design''. CRC Press/Taylor & Francis Group. * Meister, D. and Bedny, G. Z. (1997). ''The Russian Theory of Activity: Current Applications to Design and Learning''. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bedny, Gregory 1938 births 2018 deaths Soviet emigrants to the United States New Jersey Institute of Technology faculty