C. West Churchman
Encyclopedia
Charles West Churchman (29 August 1913 – 21 March 2004 Bolinas, California
.) was an American
philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
at the University of California, Berkeley
. He was internationally known for his pioneering work in operations research
, system analysis
and ethics
.
, to Clark Wharton Churchman and Helen Norah Fassitt, descendents of old line Philadelphia families. His first intellectual love was for philosophy
and this far-ranging love for wisdom captivated him to the end of his life. He studied philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania
, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi
fraternity. He earned a bachelor's degree
in 1935, a master's
in 1936, and a PhD
in 1938, all in philosophy. One of his teachers was Edgar A. Singer, who had been a student at Harvard of the philosopher and psychologist William James
.
Before completing his dissertation, in 1937, he became Instructor of Philosophy, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon finishing his degree, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University. During World War II, Churchman headed the mathematical section of the U.S. Ordnance Laboratory at the Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia and devised a way to test small arms ammunition and detonators based on the statistical methods of bioassay. He also investigated the theory of detonation, applying high-speed photography. In 1945, back in Pennsylvania he was elected Chairman of the Department of Philosophy. In 1951, Churchman moved to the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio
, and until 1957 he was Professor of Engineering Administration at Case. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley
and remained there as a Professor Emeritus after his retirement.
During 1946-1954, he served as the secretary and program chairman of the American Philosophy of Science Association
. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
. Churchman was a founding member of TIMS, now INFORMS, and served as its ninth president in 1962. In 1989, Churchman was elected president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences
.
Churchman edited the journal Philosophy of Science for a long period beginning in 1948. He also served as the first editor-in-chief of the journal Management Science in 1954.
Churchman’s honors include the Academy of Management
’s Best Book in Management Award and the McKinsey Book Award, both in 1968. His work was further honored through three honorary doctorates given to him by the Washington University in St. Louis
in 1975, the University of Lund, Sweden in 1984, and the Umeå University, Sweden in 1986. In 1983, Churchman received the Berkeley Citation, one of the campus's highest awards. In 1999 he received the LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement in Information Systems.
Churchman has been cited by Noam Chomsky
as the only professor from whom he learned anything as an undergraduate. European students of C. West Churchman are Werner Ulrich
and Kristo Ivanov
who developed his work in related fields and contributed to its diffusion in Europe.
and systems theory
. During a career spanning six decades, Churchman investigated a vast range of topics such as accounting, research and development management
, city planning, education
, mental health
, space exploration
, and peace and conflict studies
.
"He was a tremendous teacher. People would flock to his class," Gloria Churchman said. "He always kept you on the edge of your chair, because he was a very, very exciting lecturer. He had students from everywhere, all over the world."
Professor Churchman and Gloria Churchman are survived by their son Daniel Wharton Churchman (Josh) of Bolinas, his daughter-in-law Joy Churchman and two grandchildren, Jenna and Kyle Churchman.
Books edited by C.West Churchman.
Bolinas, California
Bolinas formerly Juggville is a coastal unincorporated community in Marin County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bolinas is located west-southwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 36 feet...
.) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies
Peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyses violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending social conflicts with a view towards understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition...
at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He was internationally known for his pioneering work in operations research
Operations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
, system analysis
System analysis
System analysis in the field of electrical engineering characterizes electrical systems and their properties. System Analysis can be used to represent almost anything from population growth to audio speakers, electrical engineers often use it because of its direct relevance to many areas of their...
and ethics
Ethics
Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that addresses questions about morality—that is, concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice, justice and crime, etc.Major branches of ethics include:...
.
Biography
Churchman was born in Philadelphia in 1913, PennsylvaniaPennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, to Clark Wharton Churchman and Helen Norah Fassitt, descendents of old line Philadelphia families. His first intellectual love was for philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
and this far-ranging love for wisdom captivated him to the end of his life. He studied philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi
Zeta Psi
The Zeta Psi Fraternity of North America was founded June 1, 1847 as a social college fraternity. The organization now comprises about fifty active chapters and twenty-five inactive chapters, encompassing roughly fifty thousand brothers, and is a founding member of the North-American...
fraternity. He earned a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in 1935, a master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in 1936, and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in 1938, all in philosophy. One of his teachers was Edgar A. Singer, who had been a student at Harvard of the philosopher and psychologist William James
William James
William James was a pioneering American psychologist and philosopher who was trained as a physician. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism...
.
Before completing his dissertation, in 1937, he became Instructor of Philosophy, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon finishing his degree, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University. During World War II, Churchman headed the mathematical section of the U.S. Ordnance Laboratory at the Frankford Arsenal in Philadelphia and devised a way to test small arms ammunition and detonators based on the statistical methods of bioassay. He also investigated the theory of detonation, applying high-speed photography. In 1945, back in Pennsylvania he was elected Chairman of the Department of Philosophy. In 1951, Churchman moved to the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, and until 1957 he was Professor of Engineering Administration at Case. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
and remained there as a Professor Emeritus after his retirement.
During 1946-1954, he served as the secretary and program chairman of the American Philosophy of Science Association
Philosophy of Science Association
The Philosophy of Science Association is an academic organization which promotes further studies and free discussion from diverse standpoints in the field of philosophy of science....
. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is an international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsibility, and supporting scientific education and science outreach for the...
. Churchman was a founding member of TIMS, now INFORMS, and served as its ninth president in 1962. In 1989, Churchman was elected president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences
International Society for the Systems Sciences
The International Society for the Systems Sciences is a world-wide organization for systems sciences.- Overview :The initial purpose of the society was "to encourage the development of theoretical systems which are applicable to more than one of the traditional departments of knowledge."The idea...
.
Churchman edited the journal Philosophy of Science for a long period beginning in 1948. He also served as the first editor-in-chief of the journal Management Science in 1954.
Churchman’s honors include the Academy of Management
Academy of Management
The Academy of Management is a professional association for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about management and organizations. The Academy of Management was established in 1936...
’s Best Book in Management Award and the McKinsey Book Award, both in 1968. His work was further honored through three honorary doctorates given to him by the Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis is a private research university located in suburban St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1853, and named for George Washington, the university has students and faculty from all fifty U.S. states and more than 110 nations...
in 1975, the University of Lund, Sweden in 1984, and the Umeå University, Sweden in 1986. In 1983, Churchman received the Berkeley Citation, one of the campus's highest awards. In 1999 he received the LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional Achievement in Information Systems.
Churchman has been cited by Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
as the only professor from whom he learned anything as an undergraduate. European students of C. West Churchman are Werner Ulrich
Werner Ulrich
Werner Ulrich is a Swiss social scientist and practical philosopher, and a former professor of the theory and practice of social planning at the University of Fribourg...
and Kristo Ivanov
Kristo Ivanov
Kristo Ivanov is a Swedish-Brazilian information scientist and systems scientist of ethnic Bulgarian origin. He is professor emeritus at the Department of informatics of Umeå University in Sweden.-Biography:...
who developed his work in related fields and contributed to its diffusion in Europe.
Work
Churchman became internationally recognized due to his then radical concept of incorporating ethical values into operating systems. He made significant contributions in the fields of management science, operations researchOperations research
Operations research is an interdisciplinary mathematical science that focuses on the effective use of technology by organizations...
and systems theory
Systems theory
Systems theory is the transdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research...
. During a career spanning six decades, Churchman investigated a vast range of topics such as accounting, research and development management
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
, city planning, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
, mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
, space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
, and peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies
Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyses violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending social conflicts with a view towards understanding those processes which lead to a more desirable human condition...
.
Personal life
His wife Gloria Churchman died in 2009. About her husband, she said, "Academic philosophy wasn't satisfying to him. He demanded that philosophy have meaning in the world. He wanted to insert an ethical dimension into science. And he really made it his job to remind all these CEOs that they had ethical responsibilities.""He was a tremendous teacher. People would flock to his class," Gloria Churchman said. "He always kept you on the edge of your chair, because he was a very, very exciting lecturer. He had students from everywhere, all over the world."
Professor Churchman and Gloria Churchman are survived by their son Daniel Wharton Churchman (Josh) of Bolinas, his daughter-in-law Joy Churchman and two grandchildren, Jenna and Kyle Churchman.
See also
- Boundary critiqueBoundary critiqueBoundary critique is the concept in critical systems thinking, according to Ulrich that states that "both the meaning and the validity of professional propositions always depend on boundary judgments as to what 'facts' and 'norms' are to be considered relevant" or not.Boundary critique is a...
- Noam ChomskyNoam ChomskyAvram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
- Co-DesignCo-DesignCo-design is a philosophy in the American pragmatist tradition, which argues that all people have different ideals and perspectives and that any design process needs to deal with this. Co-Design traces its roots to Immanuel Kant, who in the Critique of the Pure Reason observed that to put a...
- Formal scienceFormal scienceThe formal sciences are the branches of knowledge that are concerned with formal systems, such as logic, mathematics, theoretical computer science, information theory, systems theory, decision theory, statistics, and some aspects of linguistics....
- Debora HammondDebora HammondDebora Hammond is an American historian of science, Provost and Professor Interdisciplinary Studies of the Hutchins School of Liberal Studies at the Sonoma State University...
- Werner UlrichWerner UlrichWerner Ulrich is a Swiss social scientist and practical philosopher, and a former professor of the theory and practice of social planning at the University of Fribourg...
- Kristo IvanovKristo IvanovKristo Ivanov is a Swedish-Brazilian information scientist and systems scientist of ethnic Bulgarian origin. He is professor emeritus at the Department of informatics of Umeå University in Sweden.-Biography:...
- Umeå UniversityUmeå UniversityUmeå University is a university in Umeå in the mid-northern region of Sweden. The university was founded in 1965 and is the fifth oldest within Sweden's present borders....
- Ludwig von BertalanffyLudwig von BertalanffyKarl Ludwig von Bertalanffy was an Austrian-born biologist known as one of the founders of general systems theory . GST is an interdisciplinary practice that describes systems with interacting components, applicable to biology, cybernetics, and other fields...
Publications
Churchman wrote some 15 books and edited another 9 books:- 1938, Towards a General Logic of Propositions, Ph.D. Dissertation.
- 1940, Elements of Logic and Formal Science, J.B. Lippincott Co., New York.
- 1940, Euclid Vindicated of Every Blemish, Translator, Saccheri's.
- 1946, Psychologistics, with Russell L. Ackoff.
- 1948, Theory of Experimental Inference, Macmillan Publishers, New York.
- 1950, Methods of Inquiry: Introduction to Philosophy and Scientific Method, with Russell L. Ackoff, Educational Publications, St. Louis, Missouri, Missouri.
- 1956, Costs, Utilities, and Values, Sections I and II.
- 1957, Introduction to Operations Research, with Russell L. Ackoff & E.L. Arnoff, J. Wiley and Sons, New York.
- 1960, Prediction and Optimal Decision, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
- 1968, Challenge to Reason, McGraw-Hill, New York.
- 1968, The Systems Approach, Delacorte Press, New York.
- 1971, The Design of Inquiring Systems, Basic Concepts of Systems and Organizations, Basic Books, New York.
- 1975, Thinking for Decisions: Deductive Quantitative Methods, Science Research Associates, Chicago, Illinois.
- 1979, The Systems Approach and Its Enemies, Basic Books, New York.
- 1982, Thought and Wisdom; The Gaither Lectures, Intersystems Publications, Seaside, California.
Books edited by C.West Churchman.
- 1947, Measurement of Consumer Interest, ed. with Russell L. Ackoff, and M. Wax.
- 1959, Measurement: Definitions and Theories, ed. with P. Ratoosh.
- 1959, Experience and Reflection by Edgar A. Singer, Jr., ed.
- 1960, Management Sciences, ed. with M. Verhulst.
- 1975, Systems and Management Annual 1975, ed.
- 1976, Design Methods and Theories, ed.
- 1976, World Modelling: A Dialogue, ed. with R.O. Mason.
- 1984, Natural Resources Administration: Introducing a New Methodology for Management Development, ed. with A.H. Rosenthal, and S.H. Smith.
- 1989, The Well-Being of Organizations, ed.
External links
- Ethics and Sustainability Forum
- Appreciation of Churchman by Werner Ulrich includes obituary from the San Francisco Chronicle.