Thomas Saaty
Encyclopedia
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...
, where he teaches in the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business
Joseph M. Katz School of Business
The Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business is the business school of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, and ranks among one of the top business schools in the United States. The school enrolls approximately 200 full-time MBA students, 400 part-time students, and 70...
. He is the inventor, architect, and primary theoretician of the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Analytic Hierarchy Process
The Analytic Hierarchy Process is a structured technique for organizing and analyzing complex decisions. Based on mathematics and psychology, it was developed by Thomas L...
(AHP), a decision-making framework used for large-scale, multiparty, multi-criteria decision analysis
Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis
Multiple-criteria decision-making or multiple-criteria decision analysis is a sub-discipline of operations research that explicitly considers multiple criteria in decision-making environments. Whether in our daily lives or in professional settings, there are typically multiple conflicting criteria...
, and of the Analytic Network Process
Analytic Network Process
The analytic network process is a more general form of the analytic hierarchy process used in multi-criteria decision analysis.AHP structures a decision problem into a hierarchy with a goal, decision criteria, and alternatives, while the ANP structures it as a network...
, its generalization to decisions with dependence and feedback.
Prior to coming to the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Saaty was professor of statistics and operations research at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
The Wharton School is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wharton was the world’s first collegiate business school and the first business school in the United States...
(1969-79). Before that, he spent fifteen years working for U.S. government agencies and for companies doing government-sponsored research. His employers at that time included the Operations Evaluation Group of MIT at the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
, the Office of Naval Research
Office of Naval Research
The Office of Naval Research , headquartered in Arlington, Virginia , is the office within the United States Department of the Navy that coordinates, executes, and promotes the science and technology programs of the U.S...
, and the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
Arms Control and Disarmament Agency
The U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency was established as an independent agency of the United States government by the Arms Control and Disarmament Act , September 26, 1961, a bill drafted by presidential adviser John J. McCloy. Its predecessor was the U.S. Disarmament Administration, part...
at the U.S. State Department.
Dr. Saaty has made contributions in the fields of operations research
Operations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
(parametric linear programming, epidemics and the spread of biological agents, queuing theory, and behavioral mathematics as it relates to operations), arms control
Arms control
Arms control is an umbrella term for restrictions upon the development, production, stockpiling, proliferation, and usage of weapons, especially weapons of mass destruction...
and disarmament
Disarmament
Disarmament is the act of reducing, limiting, or abolishing weapons. Disarmament generally refers to a country's military or specific type of weaponry. Disarmament is often taken to mean total elimination of weapons of mass destruction, such as nuclear arms...
, and urban design
Urban design
Urban design concerns the arrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has...
. He has written more than 35 books and 350 papers on mathematics, operations research
Operations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
, and decision making
Decision making
Decision making can be regarded as the mental processes resulting in the selection of a course of action among several alternative scenarios. Every decision making process produces a final choice. The output can be an action or an opinion of choice.- Overview :Human performance in decision terms...
. Their subjects include graph theory
Graph theory
In mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
and its applications, nonlinear mathematics
Nonlinearity
In mathematics, a nonlinear system is one that does not satisfy the superposition principle, or one whose output is not directly proportional to its input; a linear system fulfills these conditions. In other words, a nonlinear system is any problem where the variable to be solved for cannot be...
, analytical planning
Planning
Planning in organizations and public policy is both the organizational process of creating and maintaining a plan; and the psychological process of thinking about the activities required to create a desired goal on some scale. As such, it is a fundamental property of intelligent behavior...
, and game theory
Game theory
Game theory is a mathematical method for analyzing calculated circumstances, such as in games, where a person’s success is based upon the choices of others...
and conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
. According to the Mathematics Genealogy Project
Mathematics Genealogy Project
The Mathematics Genealogy Project is a web-based database for the academic genealogy of mathematicians. As of September, 2010, it contained information on approximately 145,000 mathematical scientists who contribute to "research-level mathematics"...
, he has had 14 doctoral students.
In line with his long-time interest in peace and conflict resolution, in 1983 Saaty proposed that an International Center for Conflict Resolution needs to be established that would have branches in many countries and would be manned by retired diplomats, negotiators and conflict analysts. This idea was first published in an article "Center for Conflict Resolution," in the March 1984 issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and it later appeared as an appendix in his 1989 book on Conflict Resolution co-authored with J.M. Alexander. A current revised version of this proposal is posted here with his University of Pittsburgh vita.
A 2002 article listing the most important contributions to operations research from 1954 to date listed four from Dr. Saaty: "Parametric Programming" (1954, with S. I. Gass), "Mathematical Methods of Operations Research" (1959), "Elements of Queueing Theory" (1961), and "The Analytic Hierarchy Process" (1980). The book on operations research was the first to summarize the formal mathematical methods in the field of Operations Research and was translated to Russian and Japanese. The comprehensive work on queueing theory was reviewed by D.G. Kendall of Oxford University in Mathematical Reviews who wrote that this book is "a substantial encyclopedia of queueing theory whose scope is indicated by the 910 items in the bibliography at the end of the book." The book "Mathematical Methods of Arms Contol and Disarmament" was reviewed in Management Science in April 1969, "This fascinating book is an important contribution to the present task of discovering some valid underlying mathematical structures in politics...highly recommended both because of its numerous fascinating models and because of the deadly importance of its subject."
Saaty has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering
National Academy of Engineering
The National Academy of Engineering is a government-created non-profit institution in the United States, that was founded in 1964 under the same congressional act that led to the founding of the National Academy of Sciences...
(2005), and the Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences, 1971). In 1973, he received the Lester R. Ford Award from the Mathematical Association of America
Mathematical Association of America
The Mathematical Association of America is a professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists;...
for expository excellence in his paper "Thirteen Colorful Variations on Guthrie's Four-color Conjecture" on the four color problem, and in 2000 he was awarded the gold medal of the International Society on Multi-criteria Decision Making
International Society on Multi-criteria Decision Making
The International Society on Multi-criteria Decision Making is a professional association of persons interested in the means by which concerns about multiple conflicting criteria can be formally incorporated into the management planning process....
. He is the 2007 recipient of the Akao Prize of the QFD Institute
Quality function deployment
Quality function deployment is a “method to transform user demands into design quality, to deploy the functions forming quality, and to deploy methods for achieving the design quality into subsystems and component parts, and ultimately to specific elements of the manufacturing process.”, as...
. In 2008, he received the INFORMS Impact Prize for his development of the Analytic Hierarchy Process. The Impact Prize is awarded every two years to recognize contributions that have had a broad impact on the fields of operations research and the management sciences. Emphasis is placed on the breadth of the impact of an idea or body of research. In 2011 he was awarded, in a ceremony with ancient roots, the Doktor Honoris Causa
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
degree by Jagiellonian University
Jagiellonian University
The Jagiellonian University was established in 1364 by Casimir III the Great in Kazimierz . It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Central Europe and one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Krakow, Poland. In December 2011 he received the Herbert Simon Award for Outstanding Contribution in Information Technology and Decision Making for the paper "THE POSSIBILITY OF GROUP WELFARE FUNCTIONS" coauthored with Professor Luis G. Vargas, published in the International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM).
Education
PhD, Mathematics, Yale UniversityYale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, 1953 (thesis, under Einar Carl Hille
Einar Carl Hille
Carl Einar Hille was a Swedish American mathematician.Hille was born in New York to Swedish immigrant parents. He was the son of Carl August Heuman, a civil engineer, and Edla Eckman. When Einar Hille was two years old his mother returned to Sweden and lived in Stockholm...
: "On the Bessel Tricomi Equation"). Post-graduate study, University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, 1952-53. MA, Mathematics, Yale University, 1951. MS, Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
, Catholic University of America, 1949. BA, Columbia Union College
Columbia Union College
Washington Adventist University is a Seventh-day Adventist liberal arts university operating in Takoma Park, Maryland, United States. Since 2008, when its new president Weymouth Spence announced a restructuring, the school has seen its enrollment increase by 50%.- Academics :WAU is accredited by...
, 1948.
Analytic hierarchy process (AHP)
- 1980 The Analytic Hierarchy Process: Planning, Priority Setting, Resource Allocation, ISBN 0-07-054371-2, McGraw-Hill
- 1982 Decision Making for Leaders: The Analytical Hierarchy Process for Decisions in a Complex World, ISBN 0-534-97959-9, Wadsworth. 1988, Paperback, ISBN 0-9620317-0-4, RWS
- 1982 The Logic of Priorities: Applications in Business, Energy, Health, and Transportation, with Luis G. Vargas, ISBN 0-89838-071-5 (Hardcover) ISBN 0-89838-078-2 (Paperback), Kluwer-Nijhoff
- 1985 Analytical Planning: The Organization of Systems, with Kevin P. Kearns, ISBN 0-08-032599-8, Pergamon
- 1989 Conflict Resolution: The Analytic Hierarchy Process, with Joyce Alexander, ISBN 0-275-93229-F, Praeger
- 1991 Prediction, Projection and Forecasting: Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process in Economics, Finance, Politics, Games and Sports, with Luis G. Vargas, ISBN 0-7923-9104-7, Kluwer Academic
- 1992 The Hierarchon: A Dictionary of Hierarchies, with Ernest H. Forman, ISBN 0-9620317-5-5, RWS
- 1994 Fundamentals of Decision Making and Priority Theory with the Analytic Hierarchy Process, ISBN 0-9620317-6-3, RWS
- 1994 Decision Making in Economic, Social and Technological Environments, with Luis G. Vargas, ISBN 0-9620317-7-1, RWS
- 1996 Vol. III and IV of the Analytic Hierarchy Process Series, ISBN 1-888603-07-0 RWS
- 2001 Models, Methods, Concepts & Applications of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, with Luis G. Vargas, ISBN 0-7923-7267-0, Kluwer Academic
- 2007 Group Decision Making: Drawing Out and Reconciling Differences, with Kirti Peniwati, ISBN 1-888603-08-9, RWS
Analytic network process (ANP)
- 1996 Decision Making with Dependence and Feedback: The Analytic Network Process, ISBN 0-9620317-9-8, RWS
- 2005 Theory and Applications of the Analytic Network Process: Decision Making with Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks, ISBN 1-888603-06-2, RWS
- 2005 The Encyclicon, A Dictionary of Decisions with Dependence and Feedback based on the Analytic Network Process, with Müjgan S. Özdemir, ISBN 1-888603-05-4, RWS
- 2006 Decision Making with the Analytic Network Process: Economic, Political, Social and Technological Applications with Benefits, Opportunities, Costs and Risks, with Luis G. Vargas, ISBN 0-387-33859-4, Springer
- 2008 The Encyclicon, Volume 2: A Dictionary of Complex Decisions using the Analytic Network Process, with Brady Cillo, ISBN 1-888603-09-7, RWS
- 2008 The analytic hierarchy and analytic network measurement processes: Applications to decisions under Risk', European Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, 1 (1), 122-196, (2008)
Neural network process (NNP)
- 1999 The Brain: Unraveling the Mystery of How it Works, The Neural Network Process, ISBN 1-888603-02-X, RWS
- 2009 Principia Mathematica Decernendi: Mathematical Principles of Decision Making - Generalization of the Analytic Network Process to Neural Firing and Synthesis, ISBN 1-888603-10-0, RWS
Operations research
- 1959 Mathematical Methods of Operations Research, no ISBN (translated into Japanese and Russian), McGraw-Hill. 1988 Extended edition, ISBN 0-486-65703-5, Dover (paperback)
- 1961 Elements of Queueing Theory with Applications, no ISBN (translated into Russian, Spanish and German), McGraw-Hill
Mathematics
- 1964 Nonlinear Mathematics, with J. Bram, no ISBN, McGraw-Hill. 1981 Reprinted as ISBN 0-486-64233-X, Dover (paperback)
- 1964-1965 Lectures on Modern Mathematics, Volumes I, II, III (Thomas L. Saaty, Editor), no ISBN (translated into Japanese), John Wiley
- 1965 Finite Graphs and Networks, with R. Busacker, no ISBN (translated into Japanese, Russian, German and Hungarian), McGraw-Hill
- 1967 Modern Nonlinear Equations, no ISBN, McGraw-Hill. 1981, reprinted as ISBN 0-486-64232-1, Dover (paperback)
- 1969 The Spirit and Uses of the Mathematical Sciences, (Thomas L. Saaty, Editor, with F.J. Weyl), no ISBN, McGraw-Hill
- 1970 Optimization in Integers and Related Extremal Problems, no ISBN (translated into Russian), McGraw-Hill
- 1977 The Four-Color Problem; Assaults and Conquest, ISBN 0-07-054382-8, with Paul C. Kainen, McGraw-Hill. 1986 Revised edition, ISBN 0-486-65092-8, Dover (paperback)
Applied mathematics
- 1968 Mathematical Models of Arms Control and Disarmament, no ISBN, (translated into Russian), Wiley
- 1973 Topics in Behavioral Mathematics, no ISBN, Mathematical Association of America
- 1981 Thinking with Models: Mathematical Models in the Physical, Biological, and Social Sciences, with Joyce Alexander, hardback ISBN 0-08-026475-1, paperback ISBN 0-08-026474, Pergamon
Other topics
- 1973 Compact City, with George B. Dantzig, hardback ISBN 0-7167-0784-5, paperback ISBN 0-7167-0794-2 (translated into Japanese and Russian), W.H. Freeman
- 1990 Embracing the Future, with Larry W. Boone, ISBN 0-275-93573-6, Praeger
- 2001 Creative Thinking, Problem Solving & Decision Making, ISBN 1-888603-03-8, RWS