Thomas Saaty, (1926 - 2017) - ForeverMissed.com Online Memorials

He changed the way we measure things.

91 years old
Born on July 18, 1926 in Mosul, Iraq
Passed away on August 14, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Thomas Saaty, 91, born on July 18, 1926 and passed away on August 14, 2017. We will remember him forever. Please join us for a memorial in the November timeframe to commemorate Tom (more information to come). We hope that you will plan on attending ISAHP 2018 in July in Hong Kong www.isahp.org and you can look for all things AHP and ANP at www.creativedecisions.net

Tributes

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April 2, 2019

Thankyou Mr. Saaty for give such a smart and helpful methods of decision making. I used this methods for my theses, and we learn this methods at our Major, so many people very familiar with the methods and with your name. And right now i use it again for another research.
Nadya, Learning Center - Ministry of Trade Indonesia.

January 25, 2019

Dear John,
For your kind letter I am highly appreciated. I am assuring you that I will do my greatest effort to disseminate Tom's works and achievements here in Hungary and preserve his memory.
With my warmest regards,
András (Farkas), Budapest, Hungary

August 23, 2018

He has been a great Professor. He helped the society by his academic and professional contributions. He showed the path for critical decision making which we all professionals use now.

August 18, 2018

We remember you a lot Tom. Wonderful birthdays, thanksgivings spent with you. Visiting you, visiting different places together with you in Youngstown, in Canfield, in Pittsburgh, in Istanbul, in Canada name it, so many good memories. We love you....

August 15, 2018

A year has past since you left us. I miss you, your kindness and humor. I love reading the joke books you gave me. I do hope I could add some joke into your joke book.

August 14, 2018

Met many through my life of 70 years in many countries but nobody left an impact on me like Tom; truly a towering person as a human being with a rich background who made himself since he was 16 when he left his family in pursuit of education. He not only attained the education he wanted but also gave mankind something to work on after he leaves.

August 14, 2018

Dear Tom, a year has passed since you left us. I miss your guide, your every-week jokes and amazing stories that you used to send by email to all of us, but over all I miss your Symposium hugs, our talks and sharing ideas.
Love you so,
Claudio

August 14, 2018

Very Dear uncle Tom, déjà un an, je ne t'oublierai jamais. I think of you often.

August 14, 2018

I have just read every word of every Tribute below. I endorse all of them without reservation. Tom Saaty is truly a great man, who inspires everyone whose life he touches.

August 14, 2018

Tom, We sorely miss you. But your work lives on in all your followers. I am proud to have known you.

July 19, 2018

I am no academia but met him through my wife Asma. This guy is unique in all its senses and he related to me and my Ethiopian/Yemeni background. Left an impression in me and will always remember him for supporting me morally and emotionally. Stronger and larger than the mountains and will always be remembered. He passed through life with a mission that will truly impact life and science.

July 19, 2018

Your loss is Heaven's gain... If there is a Heaven for the ones who worked very hard as a scientist, created ideas endlessly, and always shared those ideas with us without questioning like you, you Tom must be there now, You always will be remembered not only in your birthday but everyday..and after us, forever.

July 18, 2018

Dear Professor,
I will never forget You. You were an extraordinary man, scientist and friend. You left us so many of your scientific works, which we use every day in our work. At the AHP Conference in Sorrento`2011, I told You: "If young people would have such math teachers as You, everyone would love math."
I told my students from the Białystok University of Technology (Poland) about You and Your scientific work. They were delighted.
Thank You very much ! We miss you very much !!!

July 18, 2018

Dear Tom,
a year has just passed and I cannot still find the right words to say how much I miss your friendship and guidance.
Thank you!
Elio

July 18, 2018

Happy Birthday Grandpa! I miss you so much and think of you often, especially when retelling your favorite jokes!

July 18, 2018

Happy Birthday dear Dad. Memories of you keep getting stronger...thank you for your energy which continues to spill out here! I love you.

July 18, 2018

We miss you Tom!...happy Birthday!

July 15, 2018

We are having the first meeting without you, we miss you.

July 13, 2018

JUst a simple and big thought today as the symposium is taking place. Wish i could have been there to share the memories and new subjects that uses ahp and anp.

July 12, 2018

Dr. Saaty is a very intelligent and kind hearted man. I was one of his students in 1988.Not only I learned how to think more systematically from him but also to understand that intelligence with love is even more powerful. I have met him a couple more times since graduated. This is a man who has shown what a legacy one can leave behind and has lived a meaningful live.

June 6, 2018

Goodbye Dr. Saaty, though I never knew you at all you leave behind a body of work that has enriched my life, the lives of my colleagues, and the lives of the millions/billions of people who have benefited in unquantifiable ways from the improved decision-making that you made possible.

February 24, 2018

Dearest family of Dr. Saaty, My heartfelt grief for the loss of this wonderful man! I was privileged to have taken his last course shortly before his passing. He thought I was goofy for asking him to sign my copy of his books... now I'm so glad I did. What an amazing spirit!

February 10, 2018

I did not personally know Dr. Thomas Saaty, but I knew through his work the Analytical Hierarchical Process - AHP that he shared with me in his writings, as well as the Analytical Network Process (ANP). Works that help me and also the decision makers to find a solution that best suits their goals as well as understanding the problem. Relying on mathematical models and psychology (The Psychology of Fonts) he formatted a combination of data judgments, mainly used to analyze complex decisions.
Prof. Dr. Leopoldino Vieira
http://www.leovine.com.br

January 8, 2018

Professor Tom Saaty a great personality. I met him during ISAHP 2014. No words to express....A real GEM.

December 29, 2017

My first introduction to the name Saaty was through his book 'Non-linear Mathematics' which I studied in the seventies.

I next encountered it when I became interested in the AHP and attended the 2009 ISAHP in Pittsburgh, principally to meet him.
During my first conversation with him I mentioned that my AHP students tended to guess the priorities at the lowest levels of the hierarchy. His response was to punch me in the stomach and say "That is not AHP!"

Another lasting memory relates to the last day of the symposium when he invited me to sit alongside him during a discussion session. This was apparently a reward for making a speech on behalf of all the overseas participants the previous evening on the river cruise, thanking him, Rozann and the organisers for their hospitality. During the discussion I ventured an opinion on something. He apparently approved because he leaned over toward me and whispered. "I could kiss you but I don't want to embarrass you.'

The four days in Pittsburgh were amongst the most memorable of my entire career.

With his wisdom, humour and intellect Professor Saaty cast a spell over the entire decision-making community from which we will all continue to benefit.

December 6, 2017

Dear Prof. Saaty,

You are such an inspiration to me..a great mentor and a creative scientist. Although I have not met you personally, it is indeed my privilege to have known you more than a decade through your books and papers on AHP and ANP while I was doing my postgraduate studies in Japan. The theory and tools you have developed played a significant role in my scientific and academic career, and I will always remember and honor you everytime I teach and use AHP/ANP in my class here in the Philippines.

Thank you for your "beautiful mind" and I will always be grateful for your legacy, and I wish in another time, or perhaps in another parallel world, I would have the opportunity to converse with you in person and learn more about life and decision theory in particular.

Yours truly,
Michael Angelo B. Promentilla
Professor of Chemical Engineering
De La Salle University
Manila Philippines

December 4, 2017

Operations Research is Math and Professor Saaty used mathematics to create AHP an useful method in decision theory.

November 29, 2017

" Knowing more does not guarantee that we understand better..." - Thomas L. Saaty, "Decision making with the analytic hierarchy process", Int. J. Services Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2008. Genius! I never met you but your work was (and still is) an inspiration for my development as a researcher. Peace to the family and a sincere condolence.

November 21, 2017

I never met Prof. Thomas Saaty in person. I remember some years ago I was trying to apply Mathematics to real-world problems and I had this awesome privilege to receive some materials related to AHP/ANP from my supervisor who also suggested me to write to Prof. Saaty for a particular problem I had with the theory.

To my surprise, despite my poor English, he and Mrs. Saaty replied my email so fast, answering my question and even sent some other materials. I was astonished for being the very first email I received from a scientist.

I am thankful for his support and effort for providing an efficient scientific theory which helped me to use numbers for consistent decisions. My deepest condolences to the family and friends. My the peace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.

November 12, 2017

Long time ago, in Summer 1972, this man introduced me to Operations Research at Cairo University. I listend as a newly graduate IE to him in Queueing theory, to Dantzig in LP, to Elmaghraby in networks, to Mangazarian in NLP, to Taha in IP, to Kamal el-Din in simulation, who were supporting our new MSc program voulantarily. He was among our distinguished grand dadies who made us love what decision making is and make it our career. His book, Queueing theory, was "The reference" for my generation in stochastic processess 45 years ago. I enjoyed the character, the drive, the motives, and the scientist. I, at 71 years old, realize through his rich trip what giving is. May Allah bless his soul.

November 11, 2017

A truly great man amongst men. The one person, more than any other, who encouraged me to take and pass my PhD. Sitting in his house discussing things intangible over lunch, remains one of my fondest and uplifting memories. So sorry to hear of Tom's passing. My thoughts are with the family. Rest In Peace, a real genius, Professor Thomas Saaty.

November 1, 2017

Professor Saaty was one of those truly great scientists who used their outstanding gifts and talents for the service of mankind. I respect him deeply. I fondly remember his very kind and helpful response to a query of mine, three decades ago, a query of a young person he had never met.
My sincere condolences to Professor Saaty's family and friends. He will remain an inspiration to us all.

October 30, 2017

Please accept my heartfelt condolences. I took Dr. Saaty's class over 10 years ago and was thoroughly amazed; it changed the way everyone thought about making decisions. I was impressed by him and appreciated his generosity in sharing his work and his family-Rozann and John have helped me with projects over the years, too. I have hoped many times that the people making the most difficult decisions know about his work and use it, too. I check out John's clients and the conference info sometimes, just to see what the world's best and brightest are doing with it.

October 22, 2017

I would like to expres my deepest condolences to the family.
Great teacher, great scientist, great men forever.

October 19, 2017

A farewell to one of the most important contributors of the MCDA family. You will be sorely missed.

October 12, 2017

Profesor Saaty será por siempre una gran figura en el mundo de la ciencia; y siempre permanecerá fijo en los recuerdos de aquellos que tuvimos la suerte de conocerlo y estrechar su mano. Lo extrañaré mucho, será muy raro llegar a Pittsburgh y darme cuenta que no podré pasar a visitarlo ni a disfrutar de su hospitalidad.

Professor Saaty will a world science figure forever; and he will always stay in the memory of those lucky ones who met him and shook his hand. I will miss him so much... It will be very odd to arrive in Pittsburgh, and realize I will not be able to see him and neither enjoy his hospitality.

October 10, 2017

Tom was a man of unequaled distinction. I had the honour of meeting him on a number of occasions and on each meeting he contributed to my decision making philosophy. I have to thank him for providing a learning base for countless PhDs. Bless you Tom Saaty.

October 7, 2017

I would like to express my sincerest condolences to the family on the passing of Professor Saaty. His distinguished academic achievements in maths and decision theory and some personal meetings with him in Pitt have helped me to make a modest contribution to multiple criteria decision making. Let him rest in peace.

October 1, 2017

Thomas Saaty: my namesake. (Although his first reaction upon hearing this from his daughter Emily in 1986 was, "But I'm not dead yet!"). I'll never be able to fill your shoes, Grandpa, but I see more of you in me as I grow older, and am so blessed. Don't know whether it's genetics or the selective environmental pressures of the Saaty back porch: memorizing Renaissance artists (with quizzes of course), talking at length about God and the universe (I faked my way through most of those conversations, parroting back your big words and ideas until I understood half of them), laughing and always learning. Grandpa, I don't know if this world will ever again have a man of your character, but please continue to bless us with bits and pieces of it both inside ourselves and in the people we meet. I love you.

October 1, 2017

Thank you for outstanding achievement and contribution to the world of knowledge.

September 14, 2017

Prof. Thomas L. Saaty was so kind. He replied my emails with helpful comments on AHP model and AHP pairwise comparisons in my research although he did not know me. He is a famous professor and I am a student in a poor country. I am always grateful for his kindness. Rest in peace Professor Thomas Saaty, a great personality.

September 13, 2017

I have never personally met Prof Saaty, but I read some of his books and many papers concerning AHP-ANP. When researching for my dissertation I used Fuzzy-AHP method due to the complexity of the problem and data I needed to analyze, as well the many respondents with diverging opinions on the subject matters.

Thank you Prof Saaty for developing such a useful method for researchers around the world.

As a lecturer I noticed that many of my students go for the same method I used (AHP-ANP) without being instructed. That indicated that the method is so popular and not that hard to understand and use.

Dr Syarif Hidayat - lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Al Azhar Indonesia - in Jakarta, Indonesia

September 7, 2017

I am terribly sorry to hear of Tom's passing. What a loss not only for his close family, and for all of us who knew and loved him, but also for humanity in general. His drive to make the world a better place through the intelligent and humane application of mathematics--and to make math, especially through the AHP, the servant of mankind rather than lord over it, is sorely needed and will be greatly missed.

His example and sage advice provided much guidance and mentoring for my own professional development, and I will be forever grateful. His humanity, generosity, and genuine caring touched my life immeasurably. I will miss him dearly and treasure the times we spent together. Sharing belly-aching laughs with him surely ranks near the top of those times. He'll remain one of the bright beacons of my life.

September 3, 2017

I was privileged to know him. He taught me so much.
A beautiful mind, the best mentor, full of love and inspiration. Thank you for everything that you have done for me, for us, for the world.
I miss you. I am so sad.

September 1, 2017

Tom remembered in the obituaries section of the newsletter of the International Society for Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM). Thanks to Luis Vargas for his thoughtful contribution.

Dear members of the International Society on MCDM,

The new issue of the newsletter is published today. You can find the newsletter on our website.

http://www.mcdmsociety.org/newsletters/92017-september-2017.

September 1, 2017

Emanation and absorption. Tom Saaty, the Genius, the Master, the Kind.

August 27, 2017

I just heard about it... I am so sorry and wish this hadn't happen. All I can say is that Professor Tom Saaty is always alive. I hope good things happen to his family that would help them tolerate this loss.

August 26, 2017

Tom was a tremendous person, a great teacher, and one of the most influential researchers in current time. He is a dear friend whose company I truly cherished. Tom will be remembered by all of us as a man of great wisdom, courage and generosity. We love you, Tom!

May your eternal soul find rest in perfect peace!

August 25, 2017

Tom was the only Erdos 2 mathematician I could understand. Tom's classes made sense, even to a fellow like me. Perhaps it was his sense of humor - I still "regularly" read from my collection of his joke books. His work added quantitative rigor to my field of QFD, and AHP/ANP are now cited throughout our new ISO 16355.

August 24, 2017

twenty years, new perspectives
mad ideas, respected always
beautiful places, sharing knowledge
science and family, nothing better

Page 3 of 5

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Recent Tributes

August 17, 2023

Tom remains a consistent presence in both my life and thoughts. The guidance he offered me is something that will forever stay with me. Thanks very much

August 17, 2023

Always remembered, always present in my life. When I review a paper, I always remember one of his key observations: ‘what have I learned after reading this paper?’

August 16, 2023

Dear Tom, you may be gone but your memory will live forever. Although it hurts I’m so grateful for the time we had and how much you brought to my life. You may have left this world but your spirit lives on in every one of us.

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Gallery

What did you expect an academic's shower curtain to be like ?

the best moments for him, with his cigar...

very beautiful...our international mom..

nice photo, sure well deserved some rest..

from a very wonderful whisky tasting night

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Remembering Tom

July 21, 2023

Dear all,

I learned about Professor Saaty’s work when I was doing my master’s degree in Thailand, Asian Institute of Technology. My thesis advisor recommended that I research the application of AHP methodology for transportation systems. At that point, I was clueless what multi-criteria analysis was all about. To my surprise, it opened my mind to mathematical approach in interpreting complicated neural process of decision making where one is confronted with multiple choices in a complex world. However, I would not have succeeded without Tom sending me two of his books by mail that helped me tremendously to learn and appreciate the concepts. I defended my thesis successfully with the title “Analytic Hierarchy and Analytic Network Processes for the Assessment of Transportation Projects: A Case Study of Kyrgyzstan” in year 2000. Years later, in 2011 to be exact, I got a chance to visit Pittsburgh, my first visit to USA, and there I met Tom and Rosana in their lovely house and they took me out around Pittsburgh. This was a lovely meeting, and I remembered Tom as being someone fatherly, who loves jokes, very personable and warm human being. Before I left, he gave me his collection of jokes with some mathematical riddles. I have included a photo that we took that day.

In my recent work in Asian Development Bank we used AHP to come up with priority investments for road network in the Federated States of Micronesia. This is the testament that his legacy lives on in the farthest corners of the world! May heavens bless his soul

AHP for making Always Happy People !!!

August 15, 2022

Dear Tom:

It will be 25 years I have been in love with AHP; when I finished my first major work applying AHP; since than I am still working with it, my mission is now bring AHP powered decision support tool to common people's pocket which is your vision. Let us hope, soon it will happen !! We will be working more to make people happy, empowering them to get insights of their decision problem powered by AHP, which will be standing for making Always Happy People !!!

Looking forward for AHP making Always Happy People ~

We are organizing ISAHP 2022

August 14, 2022

Dear Tom,
What a strong friendship you created! We are together for Thanksgivings, we are organizing ISAHP symposiums, our journal is getting better. We just miss you! Thank you once more creating this great family, this community!
Love,
Birsen Karpak

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