NEWS OF NOTE: Pioneer in Mathematical Decision Making, Pitt Professor Receives Honorary Degree From Poland’s Oldest University; Pitt’s Ridgway Center for International Security Studies to Host Book Launch, Reception Nov. 30 for GSPIA Alumnus

PITTSBURGH— Behind the larger stories about the University of Pittsburgh are other stories of faculty, staff, and student achievement as well as information on Pitt programs reaching new levels of success. The following is a compilation of some of those stories.

Pioneer in Mathematical Decision Making, Pitt Professor Receives Honorary Degree From Poland’s Oldest University 

When it came to deciding what should be done about such world issues as South African apartheid or the more-recent euro crisis, Pitt professor Thomas Saaty was able to draw on his understanding of decision theory, which he acquired through his involvement in nuclear disarmament talks in the 1960s.

That expertise was recognized last month, when Saaty traveled to Kraków, Poland, to accept the Doktor Honoris Causa honorary degree from Jagiellonian University. Established in 1364, Jagiellonian University is the oldest university in Poland and counts among its notable alumni Nicolaus Copernicus and Pope John Paul II, who also received the Doktor Honoris Causa degree.

Known widely as the father of math-based, decision-making processes—the Analytic Hierarchy Process, the Analytic Network Process, and the Neural Network Process—Saaty is a Distinguished University Professor in Pitt’s Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration. 

“Through a series of comparisons, the intensity of feelings can be translated into numbers and used to make decisions,” Saaty said of his math-based, decision-making processes. “When the decision involves conflict, each party structures a hierarchy of the contentious factors, then each side provides its own comparison judgments to determine the concessions they are most willing to offer and what they think the value of the concessions the other side is offering. This is done with an aim of reaching an equitable swap.”

The complex mathematical theory behind the Analytic Hierarchy Process isolates subproblems within the decision and analyzes them independently, deriving values or priorities for the factors involved. Most decisions are analyzed in terms of their benefits, opportunities, costs, and risks. The outcomes are then synthesized to determine the best overall outcome.   

Born in Mosul, Iraq, in 1926, Saaty obtained a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics from Columbia Union College, a master’s degree in physics from Catholic University of America, and master’s and doctoral degrees in mathematics from Yale University; he also completed postgraduate study at the University of Paris. 

The Jagiellonian University Senate honored Saaty for his groundbreaking research and its application in matters of weapons disarmament and economic stability. 

“It would be difficult to find another person as successful in combining academic work with practical implementation of developed theories as Professor Saaty,” wrote Wiktor Adamus, a professor at Jagiellonian University and member of the school's management and social communication faculty, which made the motion for Saaty’s honorary degree. “The methods developed by him have been applied in science and put into practice in almost every discipline." 

Adamus used the Analytic Network Process in 2007 to advise the Polish prime minister not to rush into joining the euro currency, advice the government heeded ahead of the 2011 euro crisis.

Saaty said his work was inspired by a feeling of love for humanity, and his desire to contribute knowledge to make the human race more peaceful. “The human race is too beautiful and intelligent not to survive," Saaty said.

Pitt’s Ridgway Center for International Security Studies to Host Book Launch, Reception Nov. 30 for GSPIA Alumnus

The University of Pittsburgh’s Matthew B. Ridgway Center for International Security Studies in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) will host a book launch and reception for alumnus and author Chad S. Serena (UPJ ’96, GSPIA ’10 G) from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Nov. 30 in 3431 Posvar Hall, 230 S. Bouquet St., Oakland.

Serena’s book, A Revolution in Military Adaptation: The U.S. Army in the Iraq War (Georgetown University Press, 2011) takes an in-depth look at how the U.S. Army adapted as an organization to combat the complex insurgency in Iraq that resulted in revolutionary changes in how the Army conducts operations. Serena also addresses how the Army translated combat success into strategic and political victories.

Serena is an associate political scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he analyzes national security issues with a focus on U.S. Army strategy, doctrine, and resources. He has recently worked on projects examining Army data collection methods, staff organization, information operations, cyber-electromagnetic activities, security cooperation, and security-force assistance. His research interests include military transformation, security strategy, military history, emerging threats, organizational behavior and adaptation, terrorism, and counterinsurgency.  He is currently working on a manuscript that examines the organizational adaptation processes of the Iraqi insurgency.

In addition to his Pitt degrees, Serena is a graduate of the Army’s Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Ga. He previously served in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence and a signals intelligence officer; he also held several information operations positions at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Serena is also the author of Combating a Combat Legacy (Parameters, Spring 2010) and Dynamic Attenuation: Terrorism, Transnational Crime and the Role of the US Army Special Forces (Global Crime, 2007); in addition, he has authored or coauthored reports for the RAND Corporation.

The book launch is free and open to the public; RSVP to brizzi@gspia.pitt.edu. For more information, visit http://www.ridgway.pitt.edu.

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