Robert McDowell Thrall Ph.D.

ROBERT MCDOWELL THRALL, PHD, Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Sciences at Rice University, died at his home in Philadelphia, PA on April 11, 2006, at age 91. Professor Thrall began his career in mathematics at the University of Michigan and joined the Rice faculty in 1969 to be the first permanent Chairman of the Department of Mathematical Sciences while also serving as the Distinguished Noah Harding Professor of Mathematical Sciences. The Rice Department of Mathematical Sciences flourished under Thrall's direction and became an exemplar nationally and internationally for the interdisciplinary application of mathematics to the life sciences, social sciences, business, economics and engineering. The growth and success of the Department lead to the subsequent formation of separate Departments of Statistics and of Computer Sciences at Rice. Early in his career, Professor Thrall became interested in applying mathematics to problems of the real world. His book "Decision Processes" (John Wiley and Sons, 1954, New York) chronicled a unique initiative that brought mathematicians, statisticians, psychologists, economists and philosophers together to create and test mathematical formulations in behavioral science theory, including the theory of games. Early, seminal contributions by two Nobel laureates in Economics, Gerard Debreu (1983) and John Nash (1994), appeared in the book. Professor Thrall remained active in research until well into his eighties and looked at his latter years as among the most interesting and productive period of his career. He focused on the emerging discipline of "Data Envelopment Analysis" and contributed over 35 publications on the topic after his formal retirement from Rice. Professor Thrall was active in many professional organizations regionally and nationally. He served as President of the Institute of Management Sciences and served for 10 years as Editor-in-Chief of one of the Institute's journals. Robert Thrall married Natalie Hunter in 1936. Robert and Natalie were a devoted couple who explored the world together and shared an abiding interest in the arts. They were faithful attendees of the Houston Ballet. Robert and Natalie had been married for 68 years when she died in December 2004. Robert Thrall is survived by his children, Charles Thrall (Sally Simmons) of Philadelphia, PA, James Thrall (Jean) of Boston, MA, and Mary Thrall of Hempstead, NY, three grandchildren, Trevor (Jeannie), Keely and Elizabeth Thrall and three great grandchildren, Calvin, Spencer and Eliza Thrall. In lieu of flowers contributions may be made to Illinois College, 1101 W. College Ave, Jacksonville IL 62650.