John Dutton Conant Little (February 1, 1928 – September 27, 2024) was an American operations researcher who was Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was best known for his result in

operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...

, Little's law.

Life and career

Born in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

on February 1, 1928, he earned a B. S. in

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

from

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

(1948) and worked at

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

(1948–50). His Ph.D. on ''Use of Storage Water in a

Hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

System'' used dynamic programming, and advised by

Philip M. Morse Philip McCord Morse (August 6, 1903 – 5 September 1985), was an American physicist, administrator and pioneer of operations research (OR) in World War II. He is considered to be the father of operations research in the U.S. Biography Morse gr ...

, was the first ever awarded in

(1955). Next, he taught at the Case Institute of Technology (now part of

Case Western Reserve Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was established in 1967 by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. Case Western Reserve Univ ...

) from 1957 to 1962, before joining the faculty at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

in 1962 where he since has worked. He was visiting professor at

INSEAD INSEAD ( ; French: ''Institut européen d'administration des affaires'') is a non-profit business school with locations in Europe (Fontainebleau, France), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Abu Dhabi, UAE) and North America (San Francisco, USA ...

(1988). His earlier research in

involved traffic signal control, and gave him fame as he formed the Little's law in 1961. It states: "The average number of customers in a stable system (over some interval) is equal to their average arrival rate, multiplied by their average time in the system." A corollary has been added: "The average time in the system is equal to the average time in queue plus the average time it takes to receive service." Little is considered to be a founder of

marketing science Marketing science is a field that approaches marketing''—''the understanding of customer needs, and the development of approaches by which they might be fulfilled''—''predominantly through scientific methods, rather than through tools and te ...

, having conducted fundamental research in models of individual choice behavior, adaptive control of promotional spending, and marketing mix models for consumer packaged goods. He has also started companies such as ''Management Decisions Systems'' and ''Kana Software''. The ''John D. C. Little Award'' is awarded annually by

INFORMS The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often s ...

. He is the father of John N. Little. Little was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

(1989) for outstanding contributions to operational systems engineering including research, education, and applications in industry and leadership. Little died on September 27, 2024, at the age of 96.

Publications

*''The Use of Storage Water in a Hydroelectric System'', Journal of the Operations Research Society of America, Vol. 3, No. 2 (May, 1955), pp. 187–197 * *''Models and Managers: The Concept of a Decision Calculus'', in Management Science: A Journal of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, 16(8):466-4855, 1970 *''Decision Support Systems for Marketing Managers'' (1984) *''The Marketing Information Revolution'' (

Harvard Business School Press Harvard Business Publishing (HBP) is a publisher founded in 1994 as a not-for-profit, independent corporation and an affiliate of Harvard Business School (distinct from Harvard University Press), with a focus on improving business management pr ...

, 1994). With Robert C. Blattberg and Rashi Glazer

Awards

electee (1989) *Parlin and Converse Awards of the

American Marketing Association The American Marketing Association (AMA) is a professional association for marketing professionals with 30,000 members as of 2012. It has 76 professional chapters and 250 collegiate chapters across the United States. The AMA was formed in from t ...

*Honorary degrees from

University of Liège The University of Liège (), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium founded in 1817 and based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French (language), French. History The university was foun ...

and

University of Mons-Hainaut The University of Mons-Hainaut (, , UMH), in Mons, Wallonia, Belgium, was a university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language was French. From January 1, 2009, the University of Mons-Hainaut and the Engineering Faculty of Mons ...

* George E. Kimball Medal of the

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is an international society for practitioners in the fields of operations research Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often s ...

*Fellow of

and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

*Buck Weaver Award from

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (branded as MIT Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree progra ...

2003.

References

External links

John Little page
at MIT
Biography of John Little
from the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, John 1928 births 2024 deaths Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty Queueing theorists American operations researchers Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni Academics from Boston Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering MIT Sloan School of Management faculty