C. West Churchman

Biography

Churchman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and studied philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1935, a master's in 1936, and a PhD in 1938, all in philosophy. Before completing his dissertation, in 1937, he became Instructor of Philosophy, also at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon finishing his degree, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University, and, in 1945, was elected Chairman of the Department of Philosophy.

In 1951, Churchman moved to the Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, and until 1957 he was Professor of Engineering Administration at Case. In 1957, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley and remained there until his retirement. He also served as the first editor-in-chief of the journal Management Science in 1954.

During the 1960s, Churchman became an alcoholic. His subsequent involvement in Alcoholics Anonymous provided a great deal of theoretical material for his future writings, as well as a rich source of anecdotes.

During the 1980's, Churchman became one of leading advocates within the Peace and Conflict Department at UC Berkeley, where he integrated his pioneering work related to systems management and peace work. One of his graduate assistants, Charles Vaughn, Jr.,(aka Alade Djehuti-Mes) stated that “West�was particularly concerned about the failure of the world leaders to solve the high death rates of children in Africa from the various diseases, wars and malnutrition.

The tools which Churchman provided these students was monumental based on the reports of peace works they were involved in as well as the gratitude they demonstrated towards him. Churchman's teaching were so popular that his classes had overflows with an annual end of the year event in Bolinas.

In 1989, Churchman was elected president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences. His work was further honored through three honorary doctorates given to him by Washington University in St. Louis in 1975, the University of Lund, Sweden in 1984, and the Umeå University, Sweden in 1986.

Churchman died in 2004 in Bolinas, California.

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