John Dutton Conant Little (born February 1, 1928) is an

Institute Professor An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology best known for his result 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 ...

, Little's law.

Biography

Born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, he earned a S.B. in

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 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 ...

(1948) and worked at

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

(1948–50). His PhD on ''Use of Storage Water in a Hydroelectric System'' used

dynamic programming Dynamic programming is both a mathematical optimization method and a computer programming method. The method was developed by Richard Bellman in the 1950s and has found applications in numerous fields, from aerospace engineering to economics. ...

, and advised by Philip M. Morse, was the first ever awarded in

(1955). Next, he taught at the Case Institute of Technology (now part of

Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

) from 1957 to 1962, before joining the faculty at

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 ...

in 1962 where he since has worked. He was visiting professor at

INSEAD INSEAD, a contraction of "Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires" () is a non-profit business school that maintains campuses in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE), and North America (San ...

(1988). His earlier research in

involved traffic signal control, and gave him fame as he formed the Little's law in 1961. It states: "The average number of customers in a stable system (over some interval) is equal to their average arrival rate, multiplied by their average time in the system." A corollary has been added: "The average time in the system is equal to the average time in queue plus the average time it takes to receive service." Little is considered to be a founder of

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

science, having conducted fundamental research in models of individual choice behavior, adaptive control of promotional spending, and marketing mix models for consumer packaged goods. He has also started companies such as ''Management Decisions Systems'' and ''Kana Software''. The ''John D. C. Little Award'' is awarded annually by

INFORMS 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 ...

. He is the father of John N. Little. Little was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...

(1989) for outstanding contributions to operational systems engineering including research, education, and applications in industry and leadership.

Publications

*''The Use of Storage Water in a Hydroelectric System'', Journal of the Operations Research Society of America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (May, 1955), pp. 187–197 * *''Models and Managers: The Concept of a Decision Calculus'', in Management Science: A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, 16(8):466-4855, 1970 *''Decision Support Systems for Marketing Managers'' (1984) *''The Marketing Information Revolution'' (

Harvard Business School Press Harvard Business Publishing was founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University (distinct from Harvard University Press), with a focus on improving business management practices. The company consists of thre ...

, 1994). With Robert C. Blattberg and Rashi Glazer

Awards

electee (1989) *Parlin and Converse Awards of the American Marketing Association *Honorary degrees from

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

and University of Mons-Hainaut *

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 ...

of the

Institute for Operations Research and the 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 o ...

*Fellow of

and the American Association for the Advancement of Science *Buck Weaver Award from

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs, ...

2003.John D.C. Little honored with Buck Weaver Award for outstanding contributions to marketing
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References

External links

John Little page
at MIT
Biography of John Little
from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, John Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty Queueing theorists American operations researchers MIT Department of Physics alumni People from Boston 1928 births Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering Living people MIT Sloan School of Management faculty