Biography of Charles West Churchman

                Charles West Churchman was born in August 29, 1913, Philadelphia and die in 21 March 21, 2004 in Bolinas, California. He 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.

                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.

                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.

Bibliography:

"C. West Churchman." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Feb. 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._West_Churchman>.