Simon, Herbert A.

Simon, Herbert A. (Alexander) (1916–  ) social scientist, economist; born in Milwaukee, Wis. A true interdisciplinarian, his work encompassed psychology and computer science as well as economics. He spent several years as a researcher at the University of California: Berkeley and taught political science at the Illinois Institute of Technology (1942–49) before becoming a professor at Carnegie-Mellon University (1949). He focused his work on administrative behavior and decision making in government and business. He argued that economic action is "bounded" by limited knowledge, information, and resources. In addition to many other awards and distinctions, in 1978 he received the Nobel Prize in economics.