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
The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University (also known as Kellogg) is the business school of Northwestern University, a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1908, Kellogg is one of the oldest and most p ...
of
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
. Machol wrote the earliest significant books directly related to
systems engineering. He was also Chief Scientist for the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
, President of the
Operations Research Society of America
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research (O.R.), management science, and analytics. It was established in 1995 with the merger o ...
, and an encyclopedia editor.
Biography
Machol was raised in
New York City, New York
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. After graduation from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...
in 1940 he enlisted in the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
with the intention to become an aviator. Although he did not earn his pilot's wings, he emerged from World War II holding the rank of lieutenant commander.
Following the war Machol worked for the Operations Evaluation Group of the U.S. Navy Center for Naval Operations and then as editor for scientific articles for the
Funk and Wagnalls
Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including ''A Standard Dictionary of the English Language'' (1st ed. 1893–5), and the ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' (25 volumes, 1st ed. 1912).Funk & Wagnalls N ...
Encyclopedia. In 1951, he was hired as the Technical Editor for the University of Michigan's Willow Run Laboratories (which later became the
Environmental Research Institute of Michigan after the Laboratory separated from the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
). Willow Run was a research organization that was engaged in scientific and applied research in systems engineering, operations research, computer science, and electronics under contract to the Department of Defense. Its principal work, which involved looking for improved ways of defending the United States against air attack, led to the ground-breaking book, "System Engineering," co-authored with
Harry H. Goode.
By 1958 Machol obtained a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Michigan and became an Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering (later full Professor) at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana. In 1960 he moved back to Michigan as Vice President Systems of Conductron, a technology startup in an era when there were almost no such startups.
In 1964, Machol became chairman of the newly formed department of
Systems Engineering at the
University of Illinois, Chicago
The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois sy ...
. From 1967 to 1986 he was a professor of systems at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern University.
[Northwestern University obituary](_blank)
/ref>
During this career, he also was a consultant to NASA, the Office of Naval Research, and the U.S. Department of Defense. After his retirement from Northwestern in 1987 he embarked on a second career as chief scientist for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
) where he worked until 1996.
His early work as scientific editor led to his selection as chair of the Operations Research Society of America's Publications Committee, and later as editor of a book series, Studies in Management Science and Systems, published by The Institute of Management Sciences
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research (O.R.), management science, and analytics. It was established in 1995 with the merger of ...
(TIMS).
Machol served as secretary, and later 1971 as president of the Operations Research Society of America
The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research (O.R.), management science, and analytics. It was established in 1995 with the merger o ...
and was honored with that organization's George E. Kimball Medal
George Elbert Kimball (July 12, 1906 – December 6, 1967) was an American professor of quantum chemistry, and a pioneer of operations research algorithms during World War II.
Early life
George E. Kimball was born to Arthur G. Kimball in Chic ...
in 1992. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's premier aviation university, on whose Board of Directors he had served.
Quite beyond his professional achievements, he was widely considered one of the most colorful individuals that the Operations Research profession has ever produced. See, for example, the tribute titled "A Hero Is Nothing But Bob Machol."
At the time of his death in 1998, he was survived by his wife, Florence, a son and daughter ( Margot Machol), and four grandchildren.
Work
Machol's work involved a number of strands — aviation, scientific writing, systems engineering, chemistry, applying Operations Research to sports, computing, and mushrooms — that intertwined over the years. As indicated by the references, he published in each of these areas.
System engineering
In 1957, Machol co-authored the book "System Engineering: An Introduction to the Design of Large-Scale Systems". This was one of the first authoritative texts in the field. This book covers the philosophy and methodology of system engineering. It also included chapters which made the book one of the first to introduce Operations Research to engineers. Although coming out of studies of large military systems, its concepts are applicable to systems of all kinds.
Aviation
Machol had a lifelong interest in aviation, starting with his days in the Navy. He continued to pursue his interest in aviation as a consultant to the Airline Pilots Association (ALPA). The pilot's union was concerned with safety issues — in particular, potential mid-air collisions of bunched planes — over portions of the North Atlantic that were not covered by radar. This work resulted in publications on the allowable separation distance between jet aircraft over the Atlantic and led to a protocol that exists to this day – and which has resulted in no mid-air collisions in this space.
Aircraft danger from turbulence
Early in his tenure at the FAA, he researched potential dangers to small aircraft created by wake turbulence
Wake turbulence is a disturbance in the atmosphere that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air. It includes variety of elements, the most significant of which are wingtip vortices and jetwash. Jetwash refers to the rapidly moving g ...
from the Boeing 757. Eventually, the FAA ordered landing aircraft to increase their distance behind the jetliners.
Sports analytics
The Wall Street Journal has credited Machol with laying the foundation for a subsequent revolution in data-based NFL play-calling. With his student, former Bears and Bengals quarterback Virgil Carter, he wrote and supervised multiple peer-reviewed articles in the 1970's demonstrating that analytics-based decisions were often more successful than traditional intuitive actions. With track and field Olympian Shaul Ladany
Shaul Paul Ladany ( he, שאול לדני; born April 2, 1936) is an Israeli Holocaust survivor, racewalker and two-time Olympian. He holds the world record in the 50-mile walk (7:23:50), and the Israeli national record in the 50-kilometer walk ...
, also in the 1970's, he showed the application of data analytics to other sports as well.
Publications
Machol was the author of several books, including
* 1957, ''System Engineering'', with Harry H. Goode.
* 1960, ''Information and Decision Processes''.
* 1962, ''Recent Developments in Information and Decision Processes'' with Paul Gray
* 1965, ''System Engineering Handbook'', Robert E. Machol, Wilson P. Tanner, and Samuel N. Alexander (eds.)
* 1976, ''Elementary Systems Mathematics : Linear Programming for Business and the Social Sciences''
* 1976, ''Management Science Applications to Sports (Studies in management science and systems; v. 4)'' Robert E. Machol and S.P. Ladany (eds.)
* 1977, ''Optimal Strategies in Sports (Studies in management science and systems ; v. 5)'', Robert E. Machol and S. P. Ladany (eds.)
References
External links
Northwestern University obituary
by Paul Gray, Lionheart Publishing 1999.
INFORMS Kimball Medal
Biography of Robert Machol
from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Machol, Robert E.
1917 births
1998 deaths
American operations researchers
Systems engineers
University of Michigan alumni
Harvard University alumni
Purdue University faculty
University of Illinois Chicago faculty
Northwestern University faculty
20th-century American non-fiction writers
20th-century American male writers
American male non-fiction writers
20th-century American engineers
Writers from New York City
Engineers from New York City