Thomas L. Saaty

Dr. Thomas L. Saaty is a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business. Dr. Saaty is the creator of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), a mathematical method that is proven to enhance decision-making outcomes for complex and thorny problems, especially those that involve multiple stakeholders, a scarcity of resources, limited data, and limited time with which to make a decision — in short, all of the factors inherent in the study of economics.

During the past thirty years, Dr. Saaty's pioneering AHP method has been applied, either directly by himself or others, to a broad spectrum of political and economic quandaries. Poland has used the AHP to determine if and when to adopt the euro for its currency. China has used the AHP to decide on the suitability of locations for dams and bridges and whether or not to build them. The National Cancer Institute has used the AHP to prioritize cancer antigens for investment. British Airways has used it to decide on the best entertainment equipment to put in its fleet. Corporations have used it to decide the feasibility of acquiring manufacturing plants in countries overseas. Indeed, the AHP process has virtually limitless applications, and thanks to advanced software and computing power, the process is more scalable than ever.

Dr. Saaty has written more than 35 books and hundreds of academic papers. He earned his PhD in mathematics from Yale University and did post-graduate study at the University of Paris at the Sorbonne. Prior to joining the faculty of the Katz School in 1979, Dr. Saaty was a professor or 10 years at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Dr. Saaty's global impact has spread through the quality and breadth of his publications. There is now an International Symposium on the AHP, ISAHP, established in 1988, that takes place every two years and also an International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process, IJAHP, devoted to papers about the theory and application of AHP.