Professor selected for National Medal

Elia Powers

UC Irvine professor R. Duncan Luce has been awarded the 2003 National

Medal of Science, regarded as the top scientific honor in the United

States.

Luce, a 20-year UC Irvine faculty member, founded the Institute

for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences in 1988 and served as director

for 10 years.

He is one of eight American engineers and scientists to receive

the lifetime achievement award, established by the U.S. Congress in

1959 and administered by the National Science Foundation. President

Bush will honor the winners at a March 14 ceremony at the White

House.

The National Medal of Science honors individuals for their

pioneering scientific research. Luce, 79, won in the behavioral and

social sciences category.

“It’s very satisfying and humbling at the same time,” Luce said of

the award. “It’s nice to have colleagues recognizing your work.”

Luce is known for using a mix of mathematical theories and

experiments to help explain individual behavior. Using mathematical

models, he attempts to show why humans make the decisions they do.

Current institute director Donald Saari said Luce is a pioneer in

the field and has added more precision to the social sciences.

“He has taken the muscle power of mathematics and used it to

measure relationships between people and the consequences of their

decisions,” said Saari, a UCI professor of mathematics and economics.

“If we find commonality in the way people make decisions, then we

are able to predict [their actions],” he said.

An often-published author, Luce’s 1959 book “Individual Choice

Behavior” elaborates on his scientific theories. The text was

recently rereleased, and Saari said he considers it a key source of

information.

Luce, who first came to UCI in 1972, no longer teaches full time

at the institution. He is a professor emeritus of cognitive sciences

and economics in the School of Social Sciences.

Luce’s past awards include the 2004 Norman Anderson Award of the

Society of Experimental Psychologists, 2003 Frank P. Ramsey Medal of

the Decision Analysis Society and the 2001 Gold Medal for Life

Achievement in the Science of Psychology of the American

Psychological Foundation.

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

elia.powers@latimes.com.