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Simon, Herbert Alexander

Simon, Herbert Alexander

Simon, Herbert Alexander, 1916-2001, American social scientist and economist, b. Milwaukee, grad. Univ. of Chicago (B.A., 1936, Ph.D., 1943). A professor of computer science and psychology at Carnegie-Mellon Univ. from 1949 until his death, Simon was a pioneer of the development of computer artificial intelligence. In economics, he contended that the theory of "economic man," which argues that the individual invariably chooses a course that will maximize personal benefits, failed to account for the inherent uncertainty of human action. His highly original work on decision-making in such books as Administrative Behavior (1947, 4th ed. 1997), in which he argued that business executives often fail to maximize profits because they make decisions without assessing all information and long-term effects, earned him the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1978. Simon's other books include Scientific Discovery (1987).

(born June 15, 1916, Milwaukee, Wis., U.S.—died Feb. 9, 2001, Pittsburgh, Pa.) U.S. social scientist. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1943. At Carnegie-Mellon University (from 1949), he taught psychology and later computer science. In Administrative Behavior (1947) Simon argued for recognizing a multiplicity of factors (including psychological ones) in corporate decision making rather than emphasizing the achievement of maximum profits as the primary motivation. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1978. He subsequently worked in the field of artificial intelligence using computer technology.

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Herbert Alexander Bruce (September 28, 1868June 23 1963), served as the 15th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Canada, from 1932 to 1937.

Born in Blackstock, Ontario near Port Perry, Bruce was educated as a surgeon at the University of Toronto and in Paris and Vienna. He owned Wellesley Hospital in Toronto which he founded in 1911, and was a professor of surgery at the University of Toronto.

In 1916, during World War I, he was appointed inspector-general of the Canadian Army Medical Corps by Sir Sam Hughes, and attained the rank of colonel.

Bruce investigated medical practices in the army and issued a Report on the Canadian Army Medical Service which urged a complete reorganization of the medical corps. His report was disowned by the government at the time and he was dismissed from his duties, though many of his recommendations were ultimately implemented. In 1919, he published Politics and the Canadian Army Medical Corps, criticizing the government for its actions.

In 1920, Bruce purchased a farm on Bayview Avenue overlooking the Don Valley and built a Tudor-style mansion which he named Annandale.

He was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Ontario by R.B. Bennett and often verbally clashed with new Ontario Premier Mitch Hepburn who attempted to curtail the extravagance of the vice-regal office in the face of the Great Depression. The lieutenant-governor's official residence, Chorley Park, was closed by the Hepburn government at the end of Bruce's term on the pretext of cutting costs.

While most lieutenant-governors are former politicians, Bruce took the unusual step of entering politics following his term as the King's representative, by contesting and winning a seat in the Canadian House of Commons in the 1940 federal election. Sitting as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Parkdale, Bruce was an outspoken advocate of conscription. He was re-elected to a second term in the 1945 federal election, but retired from office in 1946.

His autobiography, Varied Operations, was published in 1958. He died in Toronto in 1963 and was buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto.

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