 charles west churchman (29 august 1913, philadelphia &ndash; 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.kathleen maclay (2004). , uc berkeley press release, 31 march 2004. retrieved 8 may 2008. == biography == churchman was born in 1913 in mount airy, philadelphia, to clark wharton churchman and helen norah fassitt, descendents of philadelphia main line families. his first intellectual love was for philosophy and this far-ranging love for wisdom captivated him to the end of his life.richard o. mason (2004), "iforsâ operational research hall of fame : c. west churchman" in: intl. trans. in op. res. vol 11 pp 585â588 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 was 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 was also the first editor-in-
1913_births 2004_deaths American_business_theorists American_operations_researchers American_systems_scientists People_from_Bolinas,_California People_from_Philadelphia,_Pennsylvania University_of_Pennsylvania_alumni