Peter Checkland (born 18 December 1930, in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, UK) is a British management scientist and emeritus professor of systems at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

. He is the developer 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 ...

(SSM): a methodology based on a way of

systems thinking Systems thinking is a way of making sense of the complexity of the world by looking at it in terms of wholes and relationships rather than by splitting it down into its parts. It has been used as a way of exploring and developing effective actio ...

systems practice. Systems practice is the idea of uncovering an optimal solution within complex environments, thus leading to a thorough understanding of the system, analysing and adapting to change in the environment. In an important way his work preceded data science and change management disciplines in the next century.

Biography

Checkland attended George Dixon's Grammar School, and in 1954 received a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree in

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

, where he graduated with 1st class honours.David Brown
Peter Checkland honoured by OR Society
, LUMS News 28 January 2007. He worked in the industry for 15 years as a manager in ICI's chemicals business. At the end of the 1960s he joined the pioneering department of

Systems Engineering Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their enterprise life cycle, life cycles. At its core, systems engineering util ...

, where he became professor of Systems. At Lancaster he led a programme of

action research Action research is a philosophy and methodology of research generally applied in the social sciences. It seeks transformative change through the simultaneous process of taking action and doing research, which are linked together by critical refle ...

. This research team developed a new way of tackling problem situations faced by managers – Soft Systems Methodology. The SSM approach is now used and taught worldwide.Professor Checkland honoured
, LUMS News, 2 June 2004 Since the 1990s he is Professor Emeritus of Systems in Lancaster University Management School. Peter Checkland worked on the editorial board of journals such as

European Journal of Information Systems European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

; the International Journal of Information Management; the

International Journal of General Systems The ''International Journal of General Systems'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on basic and applied aspects of systems science and systems methodology. Its focus is on "general systems" – systems ideas that have ...

; the Systems Practice; and the Systems Research journal. In 1986 Peter Checkland was president of the

Society for General Systems Research 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 ...

, now International Society for the Systems Sciences. In May 1996 he was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

as Doctor of the University. In 2004 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

University of Economics, Prague The Prague University of Economics and Business (PUEB) (originally: ''the University of Economics, Prague''; '' cs, Vysoká škola ekonomická v Praze, VŠE'') is a triple crown accredited economics and business-oriented public university loc ...

. In 2007 he was awarded the Beale Medal by the OR Society, in recognition of his sustained and significant contribution to the philosophy, theory and practice of operational research. In 2008 he received the

INCOSE Pioneer Award INCOSE Pioneer Award is an annual prize for people who have made significant pioneering contributions to the field of Systems Engineering given by the INCOSE (International Council on Systems Engineering) since 1997. Winners SourceINCOSE* 1997: ...

Publications

Checkland wrote four books on Soft Systems Methodology and several articles and papers: * 1981, ''Systems Thinking, Systems Practice'', Wiley ev 1999 ed * 1990, ''Soft Systems in Action'', Wiley (with Jim Scholes) ev 1999 ed * 1998, ''Information, Systems and Information Systems'', Wiley (with Sue Holwell) * 2006, ''Learning For Action: A Short Definitive Account of Soft Systems Methodology, and its use Practitioners, Teachers and Students'', Wiley (with John Poulter)

References

External links

Professor Peter Checkland
a
Lancaster University
UK.

introduction by th
Open University
UK. {{DEFAULTSORT:Checkland, Peter 1930 births Academics of Lancaster University Systems engineers British systems scientists Living people People from Birmingham, West Midlands Alumni of St John's College, Oxford People educated at George Dixon Academy Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences

Biography

See also

Publications

References

External links