Alexander (Aleco) Christakis ( el, Αλέξανδρος Χρηστάκης; born 1937) is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

American

social scientist Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of socie ...

, systems scientist and

cyberneticist A cyberneticist or a cybernetician is a person who practices cybernetics. Heinz von Foerster once told Stuart Umpleby that Norbert Wiener preferred the term "cybernetician" rather than "cyberneticist", perhaps because Wiener was a mathematician ...

, former faculty member of several Universities, organizational consultant and member of the Club of Rome, known for his "study and design of social systems".Biography
Alexander N. Christakis, January 17, 2003.

Biography

Christakis came to the United States in 1956, and received a BA in

theoretical physics Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experim ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in theoretical nuclear physics at

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

. Later on he proceeded studying

urban planning Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...

, and systems science until 1970.^where? After the birth of his son Nicholas he returned to Greece and joined the architectural firm of Doxiadis Associates which was specialized in architecture and town planning. In 1968 he was co-founder of the Club of Rome, where he was a collaborator of

Aurelio Peccei Aurelio Peccei (; 4 July 1908 – 14 March 1984), was an Italian industrialist and philanthropist, best known as co-founder with Alexander King and first president of the Club of Rome, an organisation which attracted considerable public atten ...

Erich Jantsch Erich Jantsch (8 January 1929 12 December 1980) was an Austrian-born American astrophysicist, engineer, educator, author,Emilio Ambasz al. "Erich Jantsch (1929-1980)," in: ''The Universitas Project: Solutions for a Post-technological Society,' ...

and

Hasan Özbekhan Dr. Hasan Özbekhan (1921February 12, 2007) was a Turkish American systems scientist, cyberneticist, philosopher and planner who was Professor Emeritus of Management at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He applied the field-o ...

. Since the 1970s Christakis has served on the faculties of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; el, Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών, ''Ethnikó ke Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the Univers ...

, and the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

. He also spent five years at George Mason University as the Director of the Center for Interactive Management headed by John N. Warfield. In 1989 Christakis founded his own management consultancy firm CWA Ltd. dedicated to apply Interactive Management principles, and he has been CEO ever since. Christakis serves on the Editorial Boards of several journals, including '' Systems Research and Behavioral Sciences'', ''Systems: Journal of Transdisciplinary Systems Science'', and the ''Journal of Applied Systems Studies''. In 2002, Christakis served as President of the

International Society for the Systems Sciences The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is a worldwide organization for systems sciences. The overall purpose of the ISSS is: :"to promote the development of conceptual frameworks based on general system theory, as well as their ...

. He also serves as President of the

Institute for 21st Century Agoras An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

, a non-profit organization dedicated to the evolution of civic, global, and institutional capacity for coordinated democratic decision-making using systems principles (Co-Laboratories of Democracy.) The Institute for 21st Century Agoras is credited for the formalization of the science of

Structured dialogic design Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law ...

in its present form. Christakis is also a partner with Dialogic Design International, a consulting firm that deploys SDD in systemic design approaches for complex organizational and systems problems. In 2007 he served on the board of directors of the Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), of Future Worlds Center, and also as an Advisor to the Ambassadors Program of AIO which serves indigenous people around the world. He has received numerous awards and distinctions including the Demosophia Award, the Creative Programming Award from the National University Continuing Education Association and the most prestigious medal of the

Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies ( el, Ελληνική Εταιρεία Συστημικών Μελετών, ΕΕΣΜ) is a scientific non-profit society that was established in 2003. It is a member of the International Society for t ...

to name a few.

Contributions to international peace building

Christakis has been invited to support the peace process in Cyprus and the Middle East. He and Laouris led the implementation of series of mass scale dialogues using the

structured dialogic design Structuring, also known as smurfing in banking jargon, is the practice of executing financial transactions such as making bank deposits in a specific pattern, calculated to avoid triggering financial institutions to file reports required by law ...

process in the Civil Society Dialogue project in Cyprus and in the Act Beyond Borders project in Middle East.Act Beyond Borders Initiative
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Publications

Christakis has published over 100 papers on the management of complexity in refereed journals. He is also the co-author of three books on "Technology Assessment". Books: * 2009. ''The Talking Point:Creating an Environment for Exploring Complex Meaning''. With T.R. Flanangan. Boston, MA: Information Age Publishing. * 2006. ''Co-laboratories of democracy: how people harness their collective wisdom to create the future''. With Kenneth C. Bausch. Boston, MA: Information Age Publishing. * 2005. ''Pragmatic Design Dialogue''. Articles and papers, a selection: * 1970.
The Predicament of Mankind Quest for Structured Responses for Growing World-wide Complexities and Uncertainties
. With co-authors like Hasan Özbekhan, Erich Jantsch, Peccei, ...and others (PDF) * 1987. John N. Warfield, and Christakis, A.N. "Dimensionality," Systems Research 4, pp. 127–137 * 2004.
Retrospective Inquiry of the predicament of menkind prospectus of the Club of Rome
* 2009. Interview: ''Learnings and Vistas based on revisiting 40 years of the "Global Problematique"'

Interview i
Europe'sWorld
by Heiner Benkin

November, 2009 * 2011. Interview: ''The Predicament of the Individual, Communities, and Humankind in the 21st Century

by Heiner Benkin

September 2011

References

External links

Biography
Alexander N. Christakis, 2003.

Dialogue for the Information Age Democracy, by Alexander N. Christakis, 2005. * Institute for 21st Century Agora

a non-profit organization founded by Christakis with Kenneth Bausch to promote the pursuit of democratic approaches to collective wisdom and decision making made possible with Co-Laboratories of Democracy.
Wiki managed by world-wide SDD scientists and practitioners
{{DEFAULTSORT:Christakis, Alexander 1937 births American social scientists Living people People from Heraklion (regional unit) Princeton University alumni The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies Medal Systems scientists Cyberneticists Presidents of the International Society for the Systems Sciences