| Article ID: | iaor20051195 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Volume: | 55 |
| Issue: | 11 |
| Start Page Number: | 1123 |
| End Page Number: | 1129 |
| Publication Date: | Nov 2004 |
| Journal: | Journal of the Operational Research Society |
| Authors: | Ulrich W. |
C(harles) West Churchman, the grand old man of the ‘systems approach’, has passed away. Born on 29 August 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was 90 years of age. After a rich and significant life of scholarship, he died on 21 March 2004 in Bolinas, California. A former student and collaborator of Professor Churchman offers this commemorative essay. The paper offers a short biography of C.W. Churchman; an introduction to some central themes of this thinking; and some reflections on what remains of his work and how we might carry it forward today.