Frank P. Ramsey Medal



The Frank P. Ramsey medal is awarded for distinguished contributions in decision analysis. Distinguished contributions can be internal, such as theoretical or procedural advances in decision analysis, or external, such as developing or spreading decision analysis in new fields. The specific award criteria for evaluating potential Ramsey Medal recipients are a candidate's:

  • Theoretical, methodological, and procedural contributions to decision analysis
  • Applications of decision analysis (including new uses and in new fields)
  • Other contributions promoting decision analysis (e.g. educational and public awareness)
  • Exceptional contributions to the Decision Analysis Society (e.g. service to society or journal)

A potential recipient need not meet all of the criteria, but contributions to each criterion are pertinent.

For this award, decision analysis is defined as a prescriptive approach to provide insight for decision making based on axioms that are logically consistent with the axioms of von Neumann and Morgenstern and of Savage. Key constructs of decision analysis are utility to quantify one’s preferences and probability to quantify the state of one's knowledge.

There are overlapping aspects of decision analysis with other fields such as behavioral decision research, probabilistic risk analysis, and engineering and economic analyses. Behavioral decision research addressing how people make decisions that has direct implications for improving the practice of decision analysis is a contribution to decision analysis. Models of uncertain possible consequences from scientific, engineering, and economic modeling that are useful for decision analysis are contributions.

The award includes an honorarium, a medal, and complimentary lifetime membership in the Decision Analysis Society.

Nomination Process 

Nominations can be submitted via email to the Chair of the Ramsey Award Committee at any time. To be considered for the 2022 Award, submissions should be received by May 27, 2023

A complete nomination consists of the following:

  • The name and affiliation of the nominee
  • The name and affiliation of the nominator
  • A short statement describing why the nominee should be considered for the award
  • The nominee's CV
  • Any other material that the nominator believes would be useful in evaluating the merits on the nomination

2023 Ramsey Award Committee Chair:

Emanuele Borgonovo, emanuele.borgonovo@unibocconi.it

2022 Ramsey Medalist

Professor Ahti Salo has worked extensively on the development of decision analytic methods and their uses in resource allocation, innovation management, risk management, technology foresight, and efficiency analysis. He has published widely in leading international journals (including Management Science and Operations Research) and received awards for his research from the Decision Analysis Society of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). He serves on the Editorial Boards of several refereed journals.

Professor Salo has directed a broad range of basic and applied research projects funded by leading industrial firms, industrial federations, and funding agencies. He has been visiting professor at the London Business School, Université Paris-Dauphine and the University of Vienna. He has been the President of the Finnish Operations Research Society (FORS) for two biennial terms. In 2010-11, he served as the European and Middle East representative of the International Activities Committee of INFORMS. In 2010-16, he was jury member of the EDDA Doctoral Dissertation Award of the Association of European Operational Research Societies (EURO), and chaired this jury in 2016. He has been on the Board of the Association of Parliament Members and Researchers (Tutkas) since 1999.



List of previous winners here.