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Ralph L. Keeney

Research Professor Emeritus
Fuqua School of Business
Box 90120, Durham, NC 27708-0120
W322 Fuqua Sch of Bus, Durham, NC 27708

Overview


Ralph L. Keeney received Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is Research Professor Emeritus of Business Administration, Duke University, and Research Professor Emeritus of Industrial and Systems Engineering, University of Southern California. His areas of expertise are the decision sciences, risk analysis, and systems management. He is an authority on decision analysis, decision making with multiple objectives, and value-focused thinking. During his professional career, Dr. Keeney has consulted on a wide range of decisions including corporate management problems, public policy, environmental problems, and energy decisions. He has been a consultant for several organizations including Fair Isaac, Seagate Technology, American Express, British Columbia Hydro, Pacific Gas and Electric, BC Gas , Kaiser Permanente, Hewlett-Packard, the Electric Power Research Institute, Greater Vancouver Regional District, Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg AG (Germany), Ministry of Public Works (Mexico), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (Austria), U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Professor Keeney's books, which have been translated into numerous languages, include Decisions with Multiple Objectives with Howard Raiffa (1976, 1993), ValueFocused Thinking: A Path to Creative Decisionmaking (1992), and Smart Choices: A Practical Guide to Making Better Decisions, with John S. Hammond and Howard Raiffa (1999). He recently received an honorary doctorate from the University of Waterloo in Canada and is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of the U.S.

Current Appointments & Affiliations


Research Professor Emeritus · 2012 - Present Fuqua School of Business

Recent Publications


A Practical Approach to Address Uncertainty in Stakeholder Deliberations.

Journal Article Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · March 2017 This article addresses the difficulties of incorporating uncertainty about consequence estimates as part of stakeholder deliberations involving multiple alternatives. Although every prediction of future consequences necessarily involves uncertainty, a larg ... Full text Cite

A value model for evaluating homeland security decisions

Chapter · January 1, 2017 Introduction In 2007, Michael Chertoff, then secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), characterized the task of the Department as follows: We have to identify and prioritize the risks – understanding the threat, the vulnerability and th ... Full text Cite

Remembering Howard Raiffa

Journal Article Decision Analysis · September 1, 2016 Full text Cite
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Education, Training & Certifications


Massachusetts Institute of Technology · 1969 Ph.D.