Ronald A. Howard, an SDG founder, defined the decision analysis discipline in 1964 and has played a major role in the research, education, and application of many aspects of the field. His areas of application include decisions involving isolation of nuclear waste, technological risk, biotechnological investment, and research and development management.

Dr. Howard is a professor in the Management Science and Engineering (MS&E) Department at Stanford University, a professor of Management Science by courtesy in the Graduate School of Business, and is also director of the Decisions and Ethics Center in the MS&E Department. Chairman for many years, he is now retired from active involvement in SDG.

In 2014, Dr. Howard and his counterpart at Harvard University, Dr. Howard Raiffa, were honored when the Society of Decisions Professional named its newly created award after them. The Raiffa-Howard Award for Organizational Decision Quality recognizes practitioners of the discipline first pioneered by Dr. Howard and Dr. Raiffa. The award had its first recipient, Chevron Corporation, in 2014. Subsequent winners have included Lilly Research Laboratories, Pfizer, and China Mobile.

In 1986, Dr. Howard received the Operations Research Society of America’s Frank P. Ramsey Medal “for Distinguished Contributions in Decision Analysis.” In 1998 he received the first award for the Teaching of Operations Research/Management Science Practice from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). In 1999 Dr. Howard was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, which is among the highest professional distinctions awarded an engineer.

Dr. Howard received a BS, an MS, an EE, and an ScD in electrical engineering and a BS in economics from MIT.