Werner Ulrich (born 1948) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

social scientist Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

and practical philosopher, and a former professor of the theory and practice of social planning at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

. He is known as one of the originators of

critical systems thinking Critical systems thinking (CST) is a systems thinking approach designed to aid decision-makers, and other stakeholders, improve complex problem situations that cross departmental and, often, organizational boundaries. CST sees systems thinking as e ...

(CST) and in particular for the development of critical systems heuristics.

Life and work

Ulrich was born in 1948 in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

, Switzerland, He received doctoral degrees in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

from the

in 1975, and a Ph.D. in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

of Social Systems Design from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

in 1980, where he studied and worked with

C. West Churchman Charles West Churchman (29 August 1913 – 21 March 2004) was an American philosopher and systems scientist, who was Professor at the School of Business Administration and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Californ ...

. Back in Switzerland, in 1981, Ulrich started a double career as policy analyst in government at the

canton of Bern The canton of Bern, or Berne (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its capital city, Bern, is also the ''de facto'' capital of Switzerland. The bear is the heraldic symbol of the c ...

, and academic teacher at the University of Fribourg. Here he was appointed Titular Professor of Social Planning in the Faculty of Arts. He has also been Visiting Professor at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hu ...

, the

University of Lincoln The University of Lincoln is a public university, public research university in Lincoln, England, Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the hea ...

, the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury (UC; ; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was founded in 1873 as Canterbur ...

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, New Zealand, and the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

in Milton Keynes, UK. Ulrich is now retired from his professorship at the University of Fribourg but remains Honorary Visiting Professor at the

.Werner Ulrich's Home Page
has moved to http://wulrich.com as of October 26, 2009. In 2001, he initiated the Lugano Summer School of Systems Design at the

University of Lugano A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, which he has been directing since. Ulrich is co-founder and coeditor of the "

Journal of Research Practice The ''Journal of Research Practice'' was a biannual peer-reviewed open access academic journal covering the philosophy of research. It was published by Athabasca University Press. Free access was made possible through institutional sponsorships a ...

Publications

Ulrich wrote a few books and some 175 articles.A List of my Publications from 1971 to 2009
by Werner Ulrich. Retrieved 30 November 2009. A selection: * 1975. ''Kreativitätsförderung in der Unternehmung: Ansatzpunkte eines Gesamtkonzepts''. * 1983. ''Critical heuristics of social planning: a new approach to practical philosophy''. Habilitation thesis. Bern: Haupt. * 1994. ''Critical heuristics of social planning: a new approach to practical philosophy''. New York: Wiley. Articles, a selection: * 1998

Working Paper No. 23 1998 * 2000
Reflective Practice in the Civil Society: The Contribution of Critically Systemic Thinking"
* 2004
"In memory of C. West Churchman (1913–2004): Reminiscences, retrospectives, and reflections"
In: ''Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change'' Vol 1 Numbers 2–3. * 2005
"A Brief Introduction to Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH)"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulrich, Werner 1948 births Living people Scientists from Bern Academics of the Open University Swiss business theorists Systems scientists University of Fribourg alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Academic staff of the University of Fribourg