This is a list of systems scientists, people who made notable contributions in the field of the
systems sciences:
[
This list is based on the following sources:
* ASC cybernetics, ''A history of cybernetics'', website 2007.
* Charles François, ''Systemics and cybernetics in historical perspective'', in: Systems Research and Behavioral Science, jaargang 16, p. 203–219, 1999
* ISSS]
''Luminaries of the Systemics Movement''
, webpage, 2007/06/10.
* Principia Cybernetica, ''list of cybernetic and systems scientists'', website 2007.
And further:
* The Wikipedia articles in the field of systems, systems science and systems theory. For example: catastrophe theory, chaos theory, complex adaptive system
A complex adaptive system is a system that is '' complex'' in that it is a dynamic network of interactions, but the behavior of the ensemble may not be predictable according to the behavior of the components. It is '' adaptive'' in that the indiv ...
, complex systems, control theory
Control theory is a field of mathematics that deals with the control of dynamical systems in engineered processes and machines. The objective is to develop a model or algorithm governing the application of system inputs to drive the system to a ...
, cybernetics, ecosystem ecology
Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components s ...
, multi-agent system
A multi-agent system (MAS or "self-organized system") is a computerized system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents.Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Jang, I.; Arvin, F.; Lanzon, A.,A Decentralized Cluster Formation Containment Framework f ...
, systems biology, systems ecology, systems engineering and systems theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
.
* Other notable sources, listed separately.
__NOTOC__
A
*
Russell L. Ackoff
Russell Lincoln Ackoff (February 12, 1919 – October 29, 2009) was an American organizational theorist, consultant, and Anheuser-Busch Professor Emeritus of Management Science at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Ackoff was a pion ...
(1919–2009) American scientist in the field of
management science
Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...
,
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and
systems theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
.
*
Victor Aladjev
Victor Zakharovich Aladjev ( be, Віктар Захаравіч Алад'еў; born June 14, 1942) is an Estonian mathematician and cybernetician, creator of the scientific school on the theory of homogeneous structures.
Early life and educatio ...
(born 1942) Estonian mathematician and cybernetician, creator of the scientific school on the theory of homogeneous structures.
*
Genrich Altshuller
Genrikh Saulovich Altshuller (Ге́нрих Сау́лович Альтшу́ллер, ) (born Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, USSR, 15 October 1926; died Petrozavodsk, Russia, 24 September 1998), was a Soviet engineer, inventor, and writer. He is most ...
(1926–1998) Russian
engineer
Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...
and scientist, and inventor of the
Theory of Inventive Problem Solving.
*
Pyotr Anokhin (1898–1974)
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n biologist and physiologist who made important contributions to
cybernetics and functional systems.
*
Leo Apostel
Leo Apostel (Antwerp, 4 September 1925 – Ghent, 10 August 1995) was a Belgian philosopher and professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Ghent University. Apostel was an advocate of interdisciplinary research and the bridging of the gap b ...
(1925–1995) Belgian
philosopher who advocated of interdisciplinary research between
exact science
The exact sciences, sometimes called the exact mathematical sciences, are those sciences "which admit of absolute precision in their results"; especially the mathematical sciences. Examples of the exact sciences are mathematics, optics, astron ...
and
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
.
*
W. Brian Arthur
William Brian Arthur (born 31 July 1945) is an economist credited with developing the modern approach to increasing returns. He has lived and worked in Northern California for many years. He is an authority on economics in relation to complexi ...
(born 1945) Irish economist, expert on economics and complexity theory in technology and financial markets, and other applications.
*
W. Ross Ashby (1903–1972) English
psychiatrist and a pioneer field of
complex systems.
B
*
Per Bak
Per Bak (8 December 1948 – 16 October 2002) was a Danish theoretical physicist who coauthored the 1987 academic paper that coined the term "self-organized criticality."
Life and work
After receiving his Ph.D. from the Technical University of ...
(1948–2002) Danish
theoretical physicist
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experime ...
, to whom is attributed the development of the concept of
self-organized criticality
Self-organized criticality (SOC) is a property of dynamical systems that have a critical point as an attractor. Their macroscopic behavior thus displays the spatial or temporal scale-invariance characteristic of the critical point of a phase ...
.
*
Bela H. Banathy
Bela may refer to:
Places Asia
*Bela Pratapgarh, a town in Pratapgarh District, Uttar Pradesh, India
*Bela, a small village near Bhandara, Maharashtra, India
*Bela, another name for the biblical city Zoara
* Bela, Dang, in Nepal
* Bela, Janakpur, ...
(1919–2003) Hungarian
systems scientist, design scientist, educator, author and coordinator of many international systems research conferences.
*
Béla A. Bánáthy (born 1946?) American
systems scientist, who works at the International Systems Institute at the
Saybrook Graduate School
Saybrook University is a private university in Pasadena, California. It was founded in 1971 by Eleanor Camp Criswell and others. It offers postgraduate education with a focus on humanistic psychology. It features low residency, master's, and ...
.
*
Yaneer Bar-Yam
Yaneer Bar-Yam (born 1959) is an American scientist and activist specializing in complex systems. An expert in the quantitative analysis of pandemics, he advised policy makers on the Western African Ebola virus epidemic and founded EndCoronavir ...
(born 1959) American
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe.
Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
, systems scientist and founding president of the
New England Complex Systems Institute
The New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) is an independent American research institution and think tank dedicated to advancing analytics and its application to the challenges of society, and the interaction of complex systems with the envi ...
.
*
Gregory Bateson (1904–1980) British
anthropologist, social scientist, linguist, and
cyberneticist
A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics.
Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...
whose work intersected that of many other fields.
*
Kenneth D. Bailey (born 1943) American
sociologist, who worked in the field of research methods,
systems theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
and environmental demography and ecology.
*
Stafford Beer
Anthony Stafford Beer (25 September 1926 – 23 August 2002) was a British theorist, consultant and professor at the Manchester Business School. He is best known for his work in the fields of operational research and management cybernetics.
...
(1926–2002) British
management scientist, known for his work in the fields of operational research and
management
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a Government agency, government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includ ...
cybernetics.
*
Maamar Bettayeb (born 1953) Algerian control theorist and systems scientist in the fields of
singular value decomposition
In linear algebra, the singular value decomposition (SVD) is a factorization of a real or complex matrix. It generalizes the eigendecomposition of a square normal matrix with an orthonormal eigenbasis to any \ m \times n\ matrix. It is re ...
and
model order reduction Model order reduction (MOR) is a technique for reducing the computational complexity of mathematical models in numerical simulations. As such it is closely related to the concept of metamodeling, with applications in all areas of mathematical model ...
.
*
Harold Stephen Black
Harold Stephen Black (April 14, 1898 – December 11, 1983) was an American electrical engineer, who revolutionized the field of applied electronics by discovering the negative feedback amplifier in 1927. To some, his discovery is considered the ...
(1898–1983) American
electrical engineer, who revolutionized the field of applied electronics by inventing the
negative feedback amplifier in 1927.
*
Alexander Bogdanov (1873–1928) Russian physician, philosopher, economist, science fiction writer, and revolutionary.
*
Kenneth E. Boulding (1910–1993) British economist, educator, peace activist, poet, religious mystic, devoted Quaker, systems scientist, and
interdisciplinary philosopher.
*
Murray Bowen
Murray Bowen (; January 31, 1913, in Waverly, Tennessee – October 9, 1990) was an American psychiatrist and a professor in psychiatry at Georgetown University. Bowen was among the pioneers of family therapy and a noted founder of systemic ther ...
(1913–1990) American
psychiatrist and pioneers of family therapy and
systemic therapy
In psychotherapy, systemic therapy seeks to address people not only on the individual level, as had been the focus of earlier forms of therapy, but also as people in relationships, dealing with the interactions of groups and their interactional p ...
.
*
Valentino Braitenberg
Valentino Braitenberg (or ''Valentin von Braitenberg''; 18 June 1926 – 9 September 2011) was an Italian neuroscientist and cyberneticist. He was former director at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany.
His ...
(1926–2011) German
neurologist
Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal c ...
and cyberneticist and pioneer in
embodied cognitive science
Embodied cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field of research, the aim of which is to explain the mechanisms underlying intelligent behavior. It comprises three main methodologies: the modeling of psychological and biological systems in a ...
.
*
Richard Peirce Brent (born 1946) Australian
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems.
Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
and
computer scientist who is known for
Brent's method of root finding.
*
Gerrit Broekstra
Gerrit Broekstra (born 1 August 1941, Alkmaar, Netherlands), is a Dutch scientist and professor in the field of organization behavior and systems sciences at the Erasmus Universiteit, Rotterdam, Northwestern University, Chicago, and Nyenrode Bus ...
(born 1941) Dutch scientist and professor of
organizational behavior and
systems sciences.
*
Walter F. Buckley (1922–2006) American
sociologist, and among the first to apply
General systems theory
Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its structu ...
to sociology.
*
Mario A. Bunge (1919–2020) Argentine-Canadian physicist and philosopher, author of the 8-volume Treatise on Basic Philosophy (1974–1989), comprising
semantics
Semantics (from grc, σημαντικός ''sēmantikós'', "significant") is the study of reference, meaning, or truth. The term can be used to refer to subfields of several distinct disciplines, including philosophy, linguistics and comp ...
,
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into categories and which of these entities exi ...
,
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epis ...
,
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...
and
ethics
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
. His systemism includes the CESM (composition-environment-structure-mechanism) model for describing and explaining concrete systems.
C
*
Donald T. Campbell (1916–1996) American
social scientist
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of socie ...
, who coined the term
evolutionary epistemology
Evolutionary epistemology refers to three distinct topics: (1) the biological evolution of cognitive mechanisms in animals and humans, (2) a theory that knowledge itself evolves by natural selection, and (3) the study of the historical discovery ...
.
*
Peter Checkland
Peter Checkland (born 18 December 1930, in Birmingham, UK) is a British management scientist and emeritus professor of systems at Lancaster University. He is the developer of soft systems methodology (SSM): a methodology based on a way of syste ...
(born 1930) British
management scientist, who developed
soft systems methodology Soft systems methodology (SSM) is an organised way of thinking and it can be used to tackle general problematic situations that arise in the real world and in the management of change by using action. Developed in England by academics at the Lancast ...
.
*
Harold Chestnut
Harold (Hall) Chestnut (November 25, 1917 – August 29, 2001) was an American electrical engineer, control engineer and manager at General Electric and author, who helped establish the fields of control theory and systems engineering.
Biograp ...
(1918–2001) American
electrical engineer and, who wrote some classic books about
systems engineering.
*
C. West Churchman (1913–2004) American
philosopher in the field of
management science
Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...
,
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
and
systems thinking.
*
James J. Collins American bioengineer and
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
professor. He is one of the founders of the emerging field of
synthetic biology
Synthetic biology (SynBio) is a multidisciplinary area of research that seeks to create new biological parts, devices, and systems, or to redesign systems that are already found in nature.
It is a branch of science that encompasses a broad ran ...
, and a pioneering researcher in
systems biology,
stochastic resonance, biological dynamics and neurostimulation.
*
Gerhard Chroust (born 1941) Austrian systems scientist, and Professor Emeritus for Systems Engineering and Automation at the Institute of System Sciences at the Johannes Kepler University of Linz, Austria.
D
*
Vladimir Damgov (1947–2006) Bulgarian physicist, mathematician, union leader and parliamentarian, who particularly contributed to the application of
chaos theory.
*
Herman Daly (born 1938) American
ecological economist and
steady-state theorist.
*
George Dantzig
George Bernard Dantzig (; November 8, 1914 – May 13, 2005) was an American mathematical scientist who made contributions to industrial engineering, operations research, computer science, economics, and statistics.
Dantzig is known for his ...
(1914–2005) American mathematician who is considered the "father of
linear programming".
E
*
David Easton
David Easton (June 24, 1917 – July 19, 2014) was a Canadian-born American political scientist. From 1947 to 1997, he served as a professor of political science at the University of Chicago.
At the forefront of both the behavioralist and post ...
(1917–2014) Canadian political scientist, who developed application of systems theory to
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
.
*
Frederick Edmund Emery (1925–1997) Australian psychologist, and pioneers in the field of
Organizational development.
*
Hugo O. Engelmann
Hugo Otto Engelmann (September 11, 1917 – February 2, 2002) was an American sociologist, anthropologist and general systems theorist. Throughout his work he emphasized the significance of history.
Biography
Born September 11, 1917, in Vi ...
(1917–2002) American sociologist, anthropologist and general systems theorist.
*
Joshua M. Epstein
Joshua Morris Epstein is Professor of Epidemiology at the New York University College of Global Public Health. Formerly Professor of Emergency Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, with joint appointments in the departments of Applied Mathematic ...
American expert in social and economic dynamics, and member of the
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...
.
*
Hugh Everett
Hugh Everett III (; November 11, 1930 – July 19, 1982) was an American physicist who first proposed the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum physics, which he termed his "relative state" formulation. In contrast to the then-dominant Cope ...
(1930–1982) American physicist, who developed the use of generalized lagrange multipliers in
operations research
Operations research ( en-GB, operational research) (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a discipline that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve decis ...
.
F
*
J. Doyne Farmer (born 1952) American physicist, and one of the founding fathers of
chaos theory.
*
Mitchell Feigenbaum
Mitchell Jay Feigenbaum (December 19, 1944 – June 30, 2019) was an American mathematical physicist whose pioneering studies in chaos theory led to the discovery of the Feigenbaum constants.
Early life
Feigenbaum was born in Philadelphia, Pe ...
(1944–2019) American mathematical physicist whose pioneering studies in
chaos theory led to the discovery of the
Feigenbaum constants
In mathematics, specifically bifurcation theory, the Feigenbaum constants are two mathematical constants which both express ratios in a bifurcation diagram for a non-linear map. They are named after the physicist Mitchell J. Feigenbaum.
Histo ...
.
*
Peter C. Fishburn (1936–2021) American scientist known as a pioneer in the field of decision making processes.
*
Irmgard Flügge-Lotz
Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, née Lotz (16 July 1903 – 22 May 1974) was a German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer. She was a pioneer in the development of the theory of discontinuous automatic control, which has found wide application ...
(1903–1974) German-American mathematician who developed the theory of
discontinuous automatic control systems and laid the foundation for
automatic on-off aircraft control in jets
*
Heinz von Foerster
Heinz von Foerster (German spelling: Heinz von Förster; November 13, 1911 – October 2, 2002) was an Austrian American scientist combining physics and philosophy, and widely attributed as the originator of Second-order cybernetics. He was twice ...
(1911–2002) Austrian-American scientist combining physics and philosophy. Together with Warren McCulloch, Norbert Wiener, and John von Neumann, Heinz von Foerster was the architect of
cybernetics.
*
Jay Forrester (1918–2016) American computer engineer, known as founder of
System Dynamics, which deals with the simulation of interactions between objects in
dynamic systems.
*
Charles François (1922–2019) Belgian specialist in the field of
cybernetics and systems science, known as founding editor of the
International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics
*
Christian Fuchs
Christian Fuchs (; born 7 April 1986) is an Austrian former professional footballer who played as a left back.
He began his senior career as a teenager at Wiener Neustadt before signing his first professional contract at 17 with SV Mattersburg ...
(born 1976) Austrian social scientist who focuses his research on
information society
An information society is a society where the usage, creation, distribution, manipulation and integration of information is a significant activity. Its main drivers are information and communication technologies, which have resulted in rapid inf ...
theory, social theory,
critical theory.
*
Buckminster Fuller
Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing mo ...
(1895–1983) American visionary, designer, architect, poet, author, and inventor. He was one of the first to propagate a systemic
worldview
A worldview or world-view or ''Weltanschauung'' is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the whole of the individual's or society's knowledge, culture, and point of view. A worldview can include natural ...
and explored principles of
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
and
material efficiency in the fields of architecture, engineering and design.
G
*
Murray Gell-Mann
Murray Gell-Mann (; September 15, 1929 – May 24, 2019) was an American physicist who received the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He was the Robert Andrews Millikan Professor of Theoretical ...
(1929–2019) American physicist and Nobel Prize winner in physics for his work on the theory of elementary particles.
*
Ralph Waldo Gerard (1900–1974) American neurophysiologist and behavioral scientist and one of the founders of the Society for General Systems Research.
*
Jamshid Gharajedaghi (born c. 1940) American organizational theorist, management consultant, and Adjunct Professor of Systems thinking
*
Tom Gilb
Tom Gilb (full name "Thomas Steven Gilb", born 1940) is an American systems engineer, consultant, and author, known for the development of software metrics, software inspection, and evolutionary processes.
Biography
Tom Gilb was born in 1940 ...
(born 1940) American systems engineer.
*
Harry H. Goode (1909–1960) American computer engineer and systems engineer and professor at University of Michigan. Until his death his was president of the
National Joint Computer Committee (NJCC). He wrote the famous ''System Engineering Handbook'' together with Robert Engel Machol.
*
Brian Goodwin
Brian Carey Goodwin (25 March 1931 – 15 July 2009) (St Anne de Bellevue, Quebec, Canada - Torbay, Devon, UK) was a Canadian mathematician and biologist, a Professor Emeritus at the Open University and a founder of theoretical biology and bio ...
(1931–2009) Canadian mathematician and biologist
*
Barbara J. Grosz American computer scientist who developed the
SharedPlans model for collaborative planning in
multi-agent systems
A multi-agent system (MAS or "self-organized system") is a computerized system composed of multiple interacting intelligent agents.Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Jang, I.; Arvin, F.; Lanzon, A.,A Decentralized Cluster Formation Containment Framework fo ...
H
*
Arthur David Hall III (1925–2006) American electrical engineer. He worked for years at Bell Labs. He was one of the founders of the (IEEE) and was among the first general systems theorists. He wrote ''A methodology of Systems Engineering'' from 1962.
*
Stephen G. Haines (1945–2012) American organizational theorist and management consultant
*
Debora Hammond
Debora Hammond (born 1951) is an American historian of science, former Provost and Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at the Sonoma State University. She is known as author of the 2003 book ' ...
American historian of science and a systems scientist
*
Albert Hanken
Albert Frederik Gerhard Hanken (9 October 1926, Hillegersberg, – Amstelveen, 21 December 2016) was a Dutch mathematician, inventor, and Emeritus Professor of systems theory at the University of Twente, known for his contributions to the field of ...
(1926–2016) Dutch mathematician and Emeritus Professor Systems theory at the University of Twente
*
Friedrich Hayek
Friedrich August von Hayek ( , ; 8 May 189923 March 1992), often referred to by his initials F. A. Hayek, was an Austrian–British economist, legal theorist and philosopher who is best known for his defense of classical liberalism. Haye ...
(1899–1992) Nobel prize economist and a philosopher who made pioneering contributions to complexity theory. He notably wrote ''The Theory of Complex Phenomena'' (1967).
*
Francis Heylighen
Francis Paul Heylighen (born 27 September 1960) is a Belgian cyberneticist investigating the emergence and evolution of intelligent organization. He presently works as a research professor at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (the Dutch-speaking Fr ...
(born 1960) Belgian cybernetician working on self-organization and the evolution of complex systems
*
Derek Hitchins (born 1935) British systems engineer and was professor in
engineering management
Engineering management is the application of the practice of management to the practice of engineering.
Engineering management is a career that brings together the technological problem-solving ability of engineering and the organizational, admini ...
, in
command & control and in
systems science at the Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, England.
*
John Henry Holland
John Henry Holland (February 2, 1929 – August 9, 2015) was an American scientist and Professor of psychology and Professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was a pioneer in what became ...
(1929–2015) American pioneer in complex system and nonlinear science. He is known as the father of genetic algorithms.
J
*
Michael C. Jackson
Michael Christopher Jackson OBE (born 1951) is a British systems scientist, consultant and Emeritus Professor of Management Systems and former Dean of Hull University Business School, known for his work in the field of systems thinking and mana ...
(born 1951) British systems scientist, and expert in
Systems Thinking,
Organizational Cybernetics
Management cybernetics is concerned with the application of cybernetics to management and organizations. "Management cybernetics" was first introduced by Stafford Beer in the late 1950s and introduces the various mechanisms of self-regulation app ...
, Creative Problem Solving and Critical Systems Thinking
*
Gwilym Jenkins (1933–1982) British statistician and systems engineer
*
Clarence Johnson
Clarence Leonard "Kelly" Johnson (February 27, 1910 – December 21, 1990) was an American aeronautical and systems engineer. He is recognized for his contributions to a series of important aircraft designs, most notably the Lockheed U-2 an ...
(1910–1990) American aircraft engineer and aeronautical innovator
K
*
Rudolf Emil Kálmán (1930–2016) American-Hungarian mathematical system theorist, who is an electrical engineer by training.
*
J. A. Scott Kelso
J. A. Scott Kelso (born 1947 in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an American neuroscientist, and Professor of Complex Systems and Brain Sciences, Professor of Psychology, Biological Sciences and Biomedical Science at Florida Atlantic University (FA ...
(born 1947) Irish
neuroscientist
A neuroscientist (or neurobiologist) is a scientist who has specialised knowledge in neuroscience, a branch of biology that deals with the physiology, biochemistry, psychology, anatomy and molecular biology of neurons, neural circuits, and glial ...
, who in 1985 he founded the Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences.
*
Faina Mihajlovna Kirillova
Faina Mihajlovna Kirillova (29 September 1931) is a Belarusian scientist in the field of mathematical theory of optimal control. She was the winner of the USSR Council of Ministers Prize (1986) "for the development and implementation of multi-pur ...
(born 1931) Belarusian
control theorist
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
and former Department Head of the Institute of Mathematics of the
National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Author of over 350 scientific papers and monographs about
optimal control theory
Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criterion, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfi ...
.
*
George Klir (1932–2016) Czech-American computer scientist and professor of systems sciences at the Center for Intelligent Systems at the Binghamton University in New York. Author of several texts on systems, including ''Architecture of Systems Problem Solving''.
*
Klaus Krippendorff
Klaus Krippendorff (1932–2022) was a communication scholar, social science methodologist, and cyberneticist. and was the Gregory Bateson professor for Cybernetics, Language, and Culture at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for ...
(born 1932) German
cyberneticist
A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics.
Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...
, working on the mathematical foundations of cybernetics, general systems, communication and information theories.
L
*
Christopher Langton (born 1949) American biologist and one of the founders of the field of artificial life
*
Ervin László
Ervin László (; born 12 June 1932) is a Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, originally a classical pianist. He is an advocate of the theory of quantum consciousness.
Early life and education
László wa ...
(born 1932) Hungarian philosopher of science, systems theorist, integral theorist, and classical pianist
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Ton de Leeuw (born 1941) Dutch organizational theorist
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Loet Leydesdorff
Louis André (Loet) Leydesdorff (born 21 August 1948 in Djakarta (Dutch Indies) is a Dutch sociologist, cyberneticist and Professor in the Dynamics of Scientific Communication and Technological Innovation at the University of Amsterdam. He is kn ...
(born 1948) Dutch
sociologist and
cyberneticist
A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics.
Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...
, known for his work sociology of
communication
Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqui ...
and
innovation
Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...
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Edward Norton Lorenz (1917–2008) American mathematician and meteorologist, and an early pioneer of the chaos theory
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Niklas Luhmann
Niklas Luhmann (; ; December 8, 1927 – November 6, 1998) was a German sociologist, philosopher of social science, and a prominent thinker in systems theory.
Biography
Luhmann was born in Lüneburg, Free State of Prussia, where his father's fa ...
(1927–1998) German
sociologist, developed a systems theory applicable in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
from
Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in soci ...
works
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Robert Engel Machol
Robert Engel Machol (October 16, 1917 in New York, USA – November 12, 1998 in Maryland, USA) was an American systems engineer and professor of systems at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University. Machol wrote the ...
(1917–1998) American systems engineer and expert in the fields of operations research
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Humberto R. Maturana (1928–2021)
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Warren McCulloch
Warren Sturgis McCulloch (November 16, 1898 – September 24, 1969) was an American neurophysiologist and cybernetician, known for his work on the foundation for certain brain theories and his contribution to the cybernetics movement.Ken Aizawa ( ...
(1899–1969)
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Donella Meadows
Donella Hager "Dana" Meadows (March 13, 1941 – February 20, 2001) was an American environmental scientist, educator, and writer. She is best known as lead author of the books ''The Limits to Growth'' and '' Thinking In Systems: A Primer''.
E ...
(1941–2001) American environmental scientist, known as lead author of
Limits to Growth
''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...
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Dennis Meadows
Dennis Lynn Meadows (born June 7, 1942) is an American scientist and Emeritus Professor of Systems Management, and former director of the Institute for Policy and Social Science Research at the University of New Hampshire. He is President of t ...
(born 1942) American economist and systems scientist, known as coauthor of
Limits to Growth
''The Limits to Growth'' (''LTG'') is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3 computer model to simula ...
*
Mihajlo D. Mesarovic
Mihajlo D. Mesarovic ( Serbian Latin: ''Mihajlo D. Mesarović'', Serbian Cyrillic: Михајло Д. Месаровић; born 2 July 1928) is a Serbian scientist, who is a professor of Systems Engineering and Mathematics at Case Western Reser ...
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Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard C ...
(1901–1978)
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Gary Metcalf
Gary S. Metcalf (born 1957) is an American systems scientist, organizational theorist, management consultant, and university professor. He has served as president of the International Federation for Systems Research 2010-2014.
Biography
Raised ...
(born 1957) American
organizational theorist
Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...
and president of the
International Federation for Systems Research The International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR) is an international federation for global and local societies in the field of systems science. This federation is a non-profit, scientific and educational agency founded in 1980, and constitu ...
(2010–)
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James Grier Miller
James Grier Miller (19167 November 2002, California) was an American biologist, a pioneer of systems science and academic administrator, who originated the modern use of the term "behavioral science", founded and directed the multi-disciplinary ...
(1916–2002)
*
Melanie Mitchell
Melanie Mitchell is an American scientist. She is the Davis Professor of Complexity at the Santa Fe Institute. Her major work has been in the areas of analogical reasoning, complex systems, genetic algorithms and cellular automata, and her publi ...
American scientist
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Ian Mitroff Ian Irving Mitroff (born 1938) is an American organizational theorist, consultant and Professor Emeritus at the USC Marshall School of Business and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California He is noted for a wi ...
(born 1938) American
organizational theorist
Organizational theory refers to the set of interrelated concepts that involve the sociological study of the structures and operations of formal social organizations. Organizational theory also attempts to explain how interrelated units of organiz ...
and president of the
International Society for the Systems Sciences
The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is:
:"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their ...
(1992-93)
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Edgar Morin
Edgar Morin (; ; born Edgar Nahoum; 8 July 1921) is a French philosopher and sociologist of the theory of information who has been recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought" ( pensée complexe), and for his scholarly contributio ...
(born 1921) French philosopher and sociologist
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John von Neumann
John von Neumann (; hu, Neumann János Lajos, ; December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, computer scientist, engineer and polymath. He was regarded as having perhaps the widest cove ...
(1903–1957)
O
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Eugene Odum
Eugene Pleasants Odum (September 17, 1913 – August 10, 2002) was an American biologist at the University of Georgia known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology. He and his brother Howard T. Odum wrote the popular ecology textbook, ''Fun ...
(1913–2002) American scientist known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology
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Howard Thomas Odum (1924–2002) American ecosystem ecologist
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Linda Olds (born 1946?) American
psychologist and pioneer in the field of
systems psychology
Systems psychology is a branch of both theoretical psychology and applied psychology that studies human behaviour and experience as complex systems. It is inspired by systems theory and systems thinking, and based on the theoretical work of Roger ...
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David Orrell
David John Orrell (born 1962 in Edmonton) is a Canadian writer and mathematician. He received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Oxford. His work in the prediction of complex systems such as the weather, genetics and the economy ha ...
Canadian mathematician
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Bradford Parkinson
Bradford Parkinson (February 16, 1935) is an American engineer and inventor, retired United States Air Force Colonel and Emeritus Professor at Stanford University. He is best known as the lead architect, advocate and developer, with early contribu ...
American systems engineer
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Talcott Parsons
Talcott Parsons (December 13, 1902 – May 8, 1979) was an American sociologist of the classical tradition, best known for his social action theory and structural functionalism. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in soci ...
(1902–1979)
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Gordon Pask
Andrew Gordon Speedie Pask (28 June 1928 – 29 March 1996) was an English author, inventor, educational theorist, cybernetician and psychologist who made contributions to cybernetics, instructional psychology, experimental epistemology and ed ...
(1928–1996)
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Samuel C. Phillips (1921–1990) officer in the U.S. Air Force
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Ilya Prigogine
Viscount Ilya Romanovich Prigogine (; russian: Илья́ Рома́нович Приго́жин; 28 May 2003) was a physical chemist and Nobel laureate noted for his work on dissipative structures, complex systems, and irreversibility.
B ...
(1917–2003)
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Peter Pruzan (born 1937) Danish organizational theorist
R
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Simon Ramo
Simon "Si" Ramo (May 7, 1913 – June 27, 2016) was an American engineer, businessman, and author. He led development of microwave and missile technology and is sometimes known as the father of the intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). He ...
(1913–2016) American physicist, engineer, and business leader
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Anatol Rapoport
Anatol Rapoport ( uk, Анатолій Борисович Рапопо́рт; russian: Анато́лий Бори́сович Рапопо́рт; May 22, 1911January 20, 2007) was an American mathematical psychologist. He contributed to genera ...
(1911–2007) Russian mathematician, psychologist and systems scientist; cofounder of the International Society for Systems Science
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Eberhardt Rechtin
Eberhardt Rechtin (January 16, 1926 – April 14, 2006) was an American systems engineer and respected authority in aerospace systems and systems architecture.
Biography
Eberhardt Rechtin was born in East Orange, New Jersey on January 16 ...
(1926–2006) American systems engineer and respected authority in aerospace systems and systems architecture
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Barry Richmond (1947–2002) American systems scientist
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Luis M. Rocha (born 1966) Portuguese-American systems thinker
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Robert Rosen (1934–1998) American biologist and systems thinker
S
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Andrew P. Sage (1933–2014) American systems engineer and Emeritus Professor and Founding Dean Emeritus at the School of Information Technology and Engineering of the George Mason University
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Claude Shannon
Claude Elwood Shannon (April 30, 1916 – February 24, 2001) was an American mathematician, electrical engineer, and cryptographer known as a "father of information theory".
As a 21-year-old master's degree student at the Massachusetts Inst ...
(1916–2001)
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Thomas B. Sheridan
Thomas B. Sheridan (born December 23, 1929) is American professor of mechanical engineering and Applied Psychology Emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a pioneer of robotics and remote control technology.
Early life and e ...
(born 1929) American
mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...
and pioneer of
robotics
Robotics is an interdisciplinary branch of computer science and engineering. Robotics involves design, construction, operation, and use of robots. The goal of robotics is to design machines that can help and assist humans. Robotics integrate ...
and
remote control
In electronics, a remote control (also known as a remote or clicker) is an electronic device used to operate another device from a distance, usually wirelessly. In consumer electronics, a remote control can be used to operate devices such a ...
technology
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Herbert A. Simon
Herbert Alexander Simon (June 15, 1916 – February 9, 2001) was an American political scientist, with a Ph.D. in political science, whose work also influenced the fields of computer science, economics, and cognitive psychology. His primary ...
(1916–2001)
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Ulbo de Sitter (1930–2010) Dutch sociologist and professor of business administration at the Radboud University Nijmegen
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Henk G. Sol Henk Gerard Sol (born 11 August 1951 in Borger, Netherlands) is a Dutch organizational theorist and Emeritus Professor of Business Engineering and ICT at Groningen University. His research focuses on the development of services enabled by ICT, man ...
(born 1951) Dutch organizational theorist, consultant
*
Georgiy Starostin
Georgiy Sergeevich "George" Starostin (russian: Гео́ргий Серге́евич Ста́ростин; born 4 July 1976) is a Russian linguist. He is the son of the late historical linguist Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin (1953–2005), and his ...
(born 1976) Russian
linguistics
Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...
researcher at and a participant at the
Santa Fe Institute
The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...
's ''
Evolution of Human Languages
The Evolution of Human Languages (EHL) project is a historical-comparative linguistics research project hosted by the Santa Fe Institute. It aims to provide a detailed genealogical classification of the world's languages.
The project was founded ...
'' project
*
Sytse Strijbos (born 1944) Dutch academic, lecturer of philosophy of technology at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
T
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Len Troncale (born 1943) American biologist, systems theorist, Professor Emeritus of Cellular and Molecular Biology, and former Director of the Institute for Advanced Systems Studies at the California State Polytechnic University
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Arnold Tustin
Arnold Tustin, (16 July 1899 – 9 January 1994), was a British engineer, and Professor of Engineering at the University of Birmingham and at Imperial College London, who made important contributions to the development of control engineering and ...
(1899–1994) British engineer
*
Jaan Tallinn
Jaan Tallinn (born 14 February 1972) is an Estonian billionaire computer programmer and investor known for his participation in the development of Skype and file-sharing application FastTrack/ Kazaa. Jaan Tallinn is a leading figure in the field ...
(born 1972) co-developer of the original Skype distributed system, co-founder of the Future of Life Institute and Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, accredited/trained physicist
U
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Stuart A. Umpleby (born 1944) American
cyberneticist
A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics.
Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...
working in the field of cross-cultural management, cybernetics, group facilitation methods, systems science and the use of computer networks.
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Francisco J. Varela (1945–2001)
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Jan in 't Veld
Jan in 't Veld (16 December 1925 – 27 January 2005) was a Dutch aerospace engineer and professor of industrial organization at the Mechanical Engineering Department of the Technical University of Delft. In the Netherlands he was one of the pionee ...
(1925–2005) Dutch aerospace engineer and organizational theorist
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Geoffrey Vickers
Sir (Charles) Geoffrey Vickers, VC (13 October 1894 – 16 March 1982) was an English lawyer, administrator, writer and pioneering systems scientist. He had varied interests with roles at different times with the London Passenger Transport Board ...
(1894–1982)
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Ludwig von Bertalanffy
Karl Ludwig von Bertalanffy (19 September 1901 – 12 June 1972) was an Austrian biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory (GST). This is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, app ...
(1901–1972) Austrian Canadian biologist, physiologist and systems scientist, and cofounder of the International Society for Systems Science
W
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John Nelson Warfield (1925–2009) American electrical engineering and systems scientist, and member of the Academic Committee of the International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics.
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Kevin Warwick
Kevin Warwick (born 9 February 1954) is an English engineer and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at Coventry University. He is known for his studies on direct interfaces between computer systems and the human nervous system, and has also done ...
(born 1954) British cybernetician with interests in artificial intelligence, robotics, control systems and biomedical engineering, especially implant technology.
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Duncan J. Watts American professor of sociology
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Paul Watzlawick
Paul Watzlawick (July 25, 1921 – March 31, 2007) was an Austrian-American family therapist, psychologist, communication theorist, and philosopher. A theoretician in communication theory and radical constructivism, he commented in the fields ...
(1921–2007)
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Geoffrey West
Geoffrey Brian West (born 15 December 1940) is a British theoretical physicist and former president and distinguished professor of the Santa Fe Institute. He is one of the leading scientists working on a scientific model of cities. Among other ...
(born 1940) British physicist
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Douglas R. White
Douglas R. White (1942 – 22 August 2021) was an American complexity researcher, social anthropologist, sociologist, and social network researcher at the University of California, Irvine.
Biography
Douglas White was born in Minneapolis in 194 ...
(1942–2021) American complexity researcher, social anthropologist and sociologist.
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Brian Wilson British systems scientist, known for his development of
Soft systems methodology Soft systems methodology (SSM) is an organised way of thinking and it can be used to tackle general problematic situations that arise in the real world and in the management of change by using action. Developed in England by academics at the Lancast ...
.
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Stephen Wolfram
Stephen Wolfram (; born 29 August 1959) is a British-American computer scientist, physicist, and businessman. He is known for his work in computer science, mathematics, and theoretical physics. In 2012, he was named a fellow of the American Ma ...
(born 1959) English theorist known for his work in theoretical particle physics, cellular automata, complexity theory, and computer algebra.
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A. Wayne Wymore (1927–2011) American mathematician and systems engineer. Founder and first Chairman of Systems and Industrial Engineering (SIE) Department at the University of Arizona.
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Warren Weaver
Warren Weaver (July 17, 1894 – November 24, 1978) was an American scientist, mathematician, and science administrator. He is widely recognized as one of the pioneers of machine translation and as an important figure in creating support for scien ...
(1894–1978) American mathematician and communication scientist
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Norbert Wiener (1894–1964) American mathematician and one of the founders of cybernetics
X
Y
Z
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Lotfi Asker Zadeh
Lotfi Aliasker Zadeh (; az, Lütfi Rəhim oğlu Ələsgərzadə; fa, لطفی علیعسکرزاده; 4 February 1921 – 6 September 2017) was a mathematician, computer scientist, electrical engineer, artificial intelligence researcher, an ...
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Erik Christopher Zeeman
Sir Erik Christopher Zeeman FRS (4 February 1925 – 13 February 2016), was a British mathematician, known for his work in geometric topology and singularity theory.
Overview
Zeeman's main contributions to mathematics were in topology, partic ...
(1925–2016) Japanese-born British mathematician known for work in geometric topology and singularity theory.
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Gerard de Zeeuw
Gerard de Zeeuw (born 11 March 1936) is a Dutch scientist and Emeritus professor Mathematical modelling of complex social systems at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He is known for his work on the theory and practice of action rese ...
(born 1936) Dutch scientist and professor Mathematical modelling of complex social systems at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
See also
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List of systems engineers
This is a list of notable systems engineers, people who were trained in or practice systems engineering, and made notable contributions to this field in theory or practice.
__NOTOC__
A
* James S. Albus (1935–2011), American engineer, founder ...
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People in systems and control
This is an alphabetical list of people who have made significant contributions in the fields of system analysis and control theory.
Eminent researchers
The eminent researchers (born after 1920) include the winners of at least one award of the IEE ...
*
List of systems sciences organizations
Systems science is the interdisciplinary field of science surrounding systems theory, cybernetics, the science of complex systems. It aims to develop interdisciplinary foundations, which are applicable in a variety of areas, such as engineering, ...
References
External links
Collaborative projectsof the ISSS with a lot of information about the field of systems science.
website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Systems Scientists
Systems scientists