Abstract
The development of Operations Research (OR) after World War II (WWII) was greatly influenced by OR pioneers who applied their knowledge and experiences to the problems of business and industry. In parallel, they brought OR methods and practices into academia, and created the environment for the development and training of a new cadre of OR practitioners and researchers. In the forefront of this new group, we find John D. C. Little. From being the first to receive a Ph.D. in OR, John went on to leave his own lasting imprint on the field as a progenitor of the field of marketing science and its applications, the person behind the eponymous Little’s Law for queues, an influential academic leader, and a highly successful OR researcher, practitioner, and entrepreneur.
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References
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Acknowledgments
The authors, with appreciation, wish to note the following sources of material: “IFORS’ operational research hall of fame: John D. C. Little,” Larson (2004); and an unpublished presentation by John at his 80th birthday celebration. We also thank John Little for adding many historical facts and insights to our summary of his life and work.
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Hauser, J.R., Urban, G.L. (2011). John D. C. Little. In: Assad, A., Gass, S. (eds) Profiles in Operations Research. International Series in Operations Research & Management Science, vol 147. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6281-2_36
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6281-2_36
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