Honoring the Life and Legacy of Professor Ron Howard

I lost a piece of my heart with Ron Howard's passing. Thank you Ron for the relationship and succor you extended to me, and to everyone I saw you interact with and teach. Thank you for your myriad contributions--academic, didactic, practical, creative, motivational, inspirational, philosophical, and personal. You were the archetype. I value every hour spent with you, more than you could ever know. Like Joni Mitchell sang, "You're in my blood like holy wine." Ron, you were there, deep inside my blood, and myriad others'. You changed lives. The quality and prescience of your work speaks for itself, as presented at the Retirement party. It is the person, the essence, that I loved and that changed lives. Peace.

- Dale Nesbitt

I grew very fond of Ron over the years, always loved seeing him and talking with him at the INFORMS. He was straightforward and spoke to people as equals. The fact that I felt comfortable having the conversation below testifies to that fact.  I had heard he followed Buddhism, although I’m not sure if I heard that from him or through the grapevine. In any event, around a dozen years ago, I had a conversation that went something like this (I warn you, though, I don’t have a memory for exact conversations, so this is paraphrased and with no guaranty of accuracy). Me: Can I ask you a question? Ron: Sure. Me: You are a father of decision analysis. As a Buddhist, how can you believe in maximizing utility in decision analysis when utility functions … Ron: are built on preferences? Me: Yes. Isn’t preferring one state to another a form of attachment? Ron:  Of course it is. So, yes, utility functions are artificial. And not only that, probabilities are artificial – why should I attach to an expectation that this will happen or that, when I do not control what happens and there is so much we cannot know? Me: Good point! Ron: Well, I don’t believe in it, in that sense. I don’t want to attach to these things. But I believe Decision Analysis works – if a client has preferences and beliefs, I am happy to help them make a better decision. Me: Aaahhh.

- Jeffrey Keisler

Ron was a really strong fellow! So many of us remember and acknowledge his contributions to our profession and to us personally. Those three letters, PhD certainly would not follow my name were it not for Ron, my dissertation advisor.   But in addition to his astonishing intellect, it is a set of personal experiences that stick with me the most. Ron and I had frequent dissertation-related meetings in his office at Stanford. They were usually end-of-the-day meetings, and I was joined in his “waiting room” (Louise’s office) by his daughter Kim, who was awaiting a ride home. I learned a lot about his family from Kim. I also gained an inside glimpse while sitting on a bench one afternoon at Asilomar with his then-wife Polly.   I also remember vividly the afternoon Ron, Jim Matheson, and I were riding our motorcycles up winding and muddy Alpine Road. Rains had turned the mud on the corners into the consistency of peanut butter, and soon I was stuck in the mud up to my hubs. I saw no chance of freeing me and the bike by myself. Ron, who was in front of me, turned around on his bike, and with one hand grabbed the center of my handlebar, and jerked me and the front wheel of the bike up and out of the muck. We had fun that day, and I learned that he was one strong dude!

- Bruce Judd

I remember watching a panel discussion that included Ron and (Nobel Laureate) Ken Arrow. The two of them were debating some point (don’t remember what). It went down like this: Ron would say something and I’d say to myself, “Yes. That is clearly correct.” Then Ken would respond with an objection and I’d say to myself, “Oh, yeah. That is clearly correct.” Then Ron would respond with a rebuttal and I’d say to myself, “Oh. Hadn’t thought of that. Ron is clearly right.” Then Ken would rebut that point… I don’t remember how many times it went back and forth or where it ended, but it suddenly dawned on me that I completely believed whoever spoke last!! A humbling experience, but a testament to Ron’s intellectual brilliance.  

- Harry Saunders