01 - Young Scientists Summer Program Lecture - 16 June 2006

Howard Raiffa

Analytical Roots of a Decision Scientist

Listen [MP3 47:47] Slides [PDF]

Lecture Summary

Professor Howard Raiffa presents a fascinating account of the first half of his career as he built his reputation as one of the world’s leading researchers in decision analysis.

Raiffa begins with his chance decision to study actuarial science for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Michigan. He narrates how the teaching method of one of his professors showed him that his real vocation in life was to be a mathematician and also explains why he has such a small library in his office. 

Mixed in with interesting anecdotes about his life as his career progressed from Michigan to Columbia University; Raiffa outlines some of the problems he met along the way and shows how he solved them.

He finishes by discussing what decision science is, which he defines as:
The study of how decisions are made descriptively, how decisions should be made normatively and how to make better decisions prescriptively.

Speaker Biography

Howard Raiffa, a pioneer in developing decision and negotiating analysis, is professor emeritus of managerial economics at Harvard Business School and the author of The Art and Science of Negotiation. He has extensively taught decision making to students of business, law, public policy, and medicine.

Raiffa was chosen to help negotiate the establishment of a unique research institute to bring together researchers from the East and West at the height of the cold war. The institute was, of course, IIASA, and Raiffa was appointed its first director from 1972 to 1975.

Professor Howard Raiffa’s account of how IIASA began

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Last updated: 03 Apr 2009