Herbert A. Simon.

American Professor of Computer Science and Psychology
1916–2001

Herbert A. Simon combined the study of social and behavioral science with the disciplines of mathematics, physics, and economics in a career that included a longtime focus on the science of decision-making in organizations. Of particular note is his analysis of decision-making and problem-solving, but he was also interested in artificial intelligence (AI) and the use of the computer to study intelligence and cognition, both in problem-solving, such as the discovery of theorems, and in game playing, such as chess.

Simon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on June 15, 1916. His father was an electrical engineer and his mother an accomplished pianist. He enrolled at the University of Chicago in 1933 and graduated in 1936 with a degree in political science. He received his doctorate through the University of Chicago in 1943 while heading a research group at the...