R. Duncan Luce

R. Duncan Luce was a pioneering mathematical psychologist whose work profoundly influenced decision theory, psychophysics, and cognitive sciences. He earned a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering in 1945 and a Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1950, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he participated in the V-12 Navy training program. Luce began his academic career at MIT's Research Laboratory of Electronics in 1950, followed by an assistant professorship in mathematical statistics and sociology at Columbia University starting in 1954. He held lecturerships at Harvard University from 1957 to 1959 and became a professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1959, later awarded the Benjamin Franklin Professorship of Psychology in 1968. Luce joined the University of California, Irvine in 1972 as a member of the School of Social Sciences faculty, departed briefly for Harvard University where he served as Alfred North Whitehead Professor of Psychology and chaired the psychology department for three years, and returned to UCI in 1988 as Distinguished Research Professor of Cognitive Sciences and Economics. There, he founded and directed the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences from 1988 to 1998 and held the position of Professor Emeritus in Cognitive Sciences.

Luce's research specializations encompassed axiomatic measurement, global psychophysics, utility theory under risk and uncertainty, response times, and choice behavior, blending mathematical models with psychological experiments to predict human decision-making at individual and group levels. His key publications include the groundbreaking "Games and Decisions: Introduction and Critical Survey" (1957, with Howard Raiffa), "Individual Choice Behavior: A Theoretical Analysis" (1959), "Response Times: Their Role in Inferring Elementary Mental Organization" (1986), and "Utility of Gains and Losses: Measurement-Theoretical and Experimental Approaches" (2000). Over his career, he authored nine books and more than 250 scientific articles, introducing innovations such as Luce's choice axiom that reshaped mathematical psychology, economics, and related fields. Luce received the National Medal of Science in 2003 (presented 2005 by President George W. Bush, the first for a UC behavioral scientist), the American Psychological Foundation Gold Medal for Life Achievement in the Science of Psychology (2001), the Norman Anderson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Experimental Psychologists (2004), the Patrick Suppes Prize in Psychology from the American Philosophical Society (2012), election to the National Academy of Sciences (1972), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1966), and American Philosophical Society (2004), among other honors including the UCI Medal (2001) and Extraordinarius award (2007). He served as president of the Society for Mathematical Psychology, Psychometric Society, and Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, and Cognitive Sciences.

Professional Email: rdluce@uci.edu