Larry Richards
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Laurence Dale Richards (born 1946) has been a key figure in the modern development (since 1981) of cybernetics as a
transdisciplinary Transdisciplinarity connotes a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary boundaries to create a holistic approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines, such as research o ...
field of inquiry, often referred to as the new cybernetics. He was the first to create interdisciplinary masters and doctoral programs 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 ...
, with curricula built explicitly on concepts drawn from
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 cybernetics. He served as president for both the
American Society for Cybernetics The American Society for Cybernetics (ASC) is an American non-profit scholastic organization for the advancement of cybernetics as a science , a discipline, a meta-discipline and the promotion of cybernetics as basis for an interdisciplinary di ...
(1986–88) and the American Society for Engineering Management (1998–99) and was elected an Academician in the
International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences The International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences (IASCYS) is an honor society initially created by the International Federation for Systems Research (IFSR). The academy identifies outstanding scientists in systems and cybernetics and e ...
in 2010.


Biography

Richards was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan and grew up in
Orono, Maine Orono () is a town in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. Located on the Penobscot and Stillwater rivers, it was first settled by American colonists in 1774. They named it in honor of Chief Joseph Orono, a sachem of the indigenous Penobsc ...
. He received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a public land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the flagship university of the University of Maine System. It is classifie ...
(1968). While serving as a pilot in the U.S. Marine Corps, he earned master's degrees in aeronautical systems from the
University of West Florida The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida. Established in 1963 as part of the State University System of Florida, the university sits on the third largest campus in the State University Sys ...
(1970) and business administration from Mississippi State University (1974). He received his
Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...
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 ...
from the
Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...
at the
University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
(1980). Notable accomplishments included: Founding Chair of the Department of Engineering Management at
Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia w ...
(1984–97); founding executive director of the Center for Commercial Space Infrastructure (1992–95), which subsequently morphed into the
Virginia Space Flight Center The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) is a commercial space launch facility located at the southern tip of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island in Virginia, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and south of Chincoteague, Virgi ...
and commercial spaceport on
Wallops Island Wallops Island is a island in Accomack County, Virginia, part of the Virginia Barrier Islands that stretch along the eastern seaboard of the United States of America. It is just south of Chincoteague Island, a popular tourist destination. W ...
; Founding
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of the School of
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 ...
and Aviation Science (1997-2004) at Bridgewater State University; inaugural Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (2004–15) and Interim Chancellor (2012–13) at
Indiana University East Indiana University East (IU East) is a public university in Richmond, Indiana, a regional campus of Indiana University that serves the eastern Indiana and western Ohio area. Established in 1971 by the Indiana University Board of Trustees, IU East ...
; and, Interim Vice Chancellor & Dean for the
Indiana University – Purdue University Columbus Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th st ...
campus (2015–16). He retired from
Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...
in 2016 as
Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
Emeritus of Management and Informatics.


Work

Richards' contributions can be sorted into three areas: (1) his development of constraint theory as an approach to the formulation of
policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
and technology strategy; (2) his advancement of the concepts associated with cybernetics as representing a new and powerful way of thinking; and (3) his application of cybernetic ideas to the design of a participative-dialogic society.


Constraint theory

In his book, ''Constraint Theory'', Richards proposed that, in addressing problems and issues in complex systems involving many participants, desires be treated as constraints rather than as
goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...
s or objectives (as they are in traditional operations research problem formulation). In research for
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...
, he applied constraint theory to the development of an approach for formulating policy on the selection of new space transportation systems, given the extreme uncertainty in the technologies that will be available by the time a new system becomes operational.


Cybernetics

Richards recognized a unique potential in the cybernetic version of systems thinking for addressing complex behavioral and social phenomena. He focused on the ideas of hierarchy, purpose and belief to highlight differences between the process-oriented thinking of cybernetics and, for example, whole systems thinking, teleological or purposeful systems thinking, and ideological systems thinking. He proposed that: (1) cybernetics be treated as a way of thinking about ways of thinking (of which it – cybernetics – is one), making the way of thinking a choice; and, (2) the
cybernetician 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 ...
be treated as a craftsperson in and with time, merging art, science and design. /sup>


Designing (a) society

Since its inception in 1992, Richards was a guest at the School for Designing a Society in
Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. As of the 2010 United States Census, Urbana is the 38th-most populous municipality in Illinois. It ...
. A premise of the school was that social change can be realized in a transformation from the current to a new society (a change of system), not only in improvements to the current society (changes in a system). Richards saw in the cybernetic concept of conversation a particular dialogic with special relevance to processes of design and participation; from this, he created an idea for a participative-dialogic society, a society without violence or at least one where violence is the alternative of last resort. This idea, he argued, would require a change of thinking.


Awards and honors

In 2002, Richards was elected a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management (#33) and was awarded the Norbert Wiener Medal of the American Society for Cybernetics in 2007.


Publications

Richards published over 100 books, monographs, journal/magazine articles, and conference papers. These represent a selection (see also the references): * 2017 From goal-oriented to constraint-oriented design: The cybernetic intersection of design theory and systems theory. ''Leonardo'' 50(1): 36–41 (with Thomas Fischer). * 201
Designing academic conferences in the light of second order cybernetics
''
Constructivist Foundations ''Constructivist Foundations'' is an international triannual peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on constructivist approaches to science and philosophy, including radical constructivism, enactive cognitive science, second-order cyberneti ...
'' 11(1): 65–73. * 2014 Education as a subversive activity: A proposal. ''Kybernetes'' 43(9-10): 1392–1398. * 2010 The anticommunication imperative. ''Cybernetics and Human Knowing''. 17(1-2):11-24. * 2009 ''Craft and Constraint, Clocks and Conversation: A Larry Richards Reader 1987 – 2007'', Jason Marrero, Ed. * 200
Connecting radical constructivism to social transformation and design
''
Constructivist Foundations ''Constructivist Foundations'' is an international triannual peer-reviewed academic journal that focuses on constructivist approaches to science and philosophy, including radical constructivism, enactive cognitive science, second-order cyberneti ...
'' 2(2-3): 129–135. * 1996 Propositions on cybernetics and social transformation: Implications of von Foerster's non-trivial machine for knowledge processes. ''Systems Research'' 13(3): 363–369 (with Rochelle K. Young). * 1985 The systems approach in an information society: A reconsideration. ''Journal of the Operational Research Society'' 36(9): 833–843 (with Shiv K. Gupta). * 1979 Cybernetics and the management science process. ''OMEGA, The International Journal of Management Science'' 8(1): 71–80. * 1979 A language for policy-level modelling. ''Journal of the Operational Research Society'' 30(4): 297–308 (with Shiv K. Gupta).


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Larry 1946 births University of Maine alumni University of West Florida alumni Cyberneticists Living people People from Ann Arbor, Michigan