John D.C. Little
John D.C. Little, MIT Institute Professor Emeritus (a special rank of highest honor at MIT), has passed away.
John Little touched many lives across several intellectual disciplines and geographical boundaries. He was a scholar-gentleman, a mentor and a man with eclectic tastes. He was a role model. Dr. Gurumurthy Kalyanaram, a doctoral student of John Little has this to obseve, "John was a universal figure who is celebrated by communities across geographic boundaries and disciplines."
At MIT, John served as the Director of Operations Research Center, Head of Management Science area, and Head of Behavioral and Policy Sciences Area. John was responsible for building the Marketing Group. He was the George Maverik Bunker Professor of Management Science and then the Institute Professor (the highest honor) at MIT.
John’s intellectual contributions to many disciplines including Operations Research (OR), Marketing Science and even Behavioral Science (at MIT, he served as the Head of Behavioral Sciences) have been deeply impactful.
https://fisherp.scripts.mit.edu/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/ContentServer.pdf
https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/mnsc.1040.0267
https://www.jstor.org/stable/184043
While John’s contributions to OR and Marketing Science are well celebrated, his contribution to Behavioral Science is a well-kept secret. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2489682
John was an institution builder and contributed to The Institute of Management Science (TIMS), Operations Research Society of America (ORSA) and the merged INFORMS. John has the distinction of being one of only two people to have been elected president of the ORSA, TIMS, and INFORMS (that merged ORSA and TIMS).
John contributed to founding and building of INFORMS Society for Marketing Science (ISMS) and the Marketing Science conference and journal. The INFORMS award for the best paper published in marketing or management science is named in his honor.
John’s career and contributions are highlighted here.
https://pubsonline.informs.org/do/10.1287/orms.2024.03.20n/full/
https://news.mit.edu/2024/institute-professor-emeritus-john-little-dies-1009
https://www.informs.org/Explore/History-of-O.R.-Excellence/Biographical-Profiles/Little-John-D.-C
https://connect.informs.org/isms/awards/john-d-c-little-award
Here is the obituary on the funeral home website.
https://www.deefuneralhome.com/obituaries/John-D-C-Little?obId=33244902#/obituaryInfo