IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 287 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Our IJAHP Editorial Team Remembers Tom We asked each of our editorial team members to contribute memories, either pictures or simple words about Tom, and your will find the different contributions below. For more pictures and memories of Tom, or to add your own contributions, visit his remembrance website at: https://www.forevermissed.com/thomas-saaty/#about Rozann Saaty Remembers Tom Tom and Rozann Saaty (Rozann is the Managing Editor of the IJAHP online journal) visited China in October 2016. Tom gave lectures on decision making with AHP and Creativity at 7 major universities in Beijing and was honored at Tianjin University in Tianjin, China, where the first International Symposium on AHP took place in 1988. Many of the young scholars who attended the conference in 1988 are still at the university and have become senior administrators at Tianjin University (see picture below). https://www.forevermissed.com/thomas-saaty/#about IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 288 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Rozann and Tom Saaty and Professor Wei Gu of the University of Science and Technology in Beijing visiting Peking University Tom sampling an ice at the Beijing Olympic Park IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 289 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Tom Saaty lecturing at Central Finance and Economic University in Beijing Tom chilling out during his lecture tour in China IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 290 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Tom Saaty in Beijing with some of the academics who were visiting scholars at the University of Pittsburgh in recent years Birsen Remembers Tom My Dear Friend Thomas Saaty I have known Tom since the 1990’s. We visited each other quite a few times a year, sometimes at Tom and Rozann’s home or at my home in Canfield, where we would visit Mill Creek Park or the Canfield Bicycle trail. I attended several of Tom’s classes and sometimes my husband Cengiz did too; Cengiz was a guest speaker for Tom’s creativity class. Cengiz and Tom enjoyed each other’s company and both always eagerly anticipated the next visit. We were there when he received his gold medal in 2004 along with his whole family. He had about 6000 citations at that time, and it was a big achievement. I attended most of the ISAHP symposiums, starting in 1996 in Vancouver. In Vancouver we celebrated Tom’s 70 th birthday and, as usual, all the family was there. At the ISAHP symposium, in Switzerland in 2001, a Swiss performer played a big Alpine Horn, and Tom followed up this performance with one of his own, playing a tiny violin (less than 10 inches). He played it very well, and everyone was pleasantly surprised, and enjoyed some good laughter. We also attended some MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) meetings together. In Ankara in 2000, Tom received the MCDM Gold Medal. This is the highest honor that the International Society on Multiple Criteria Decision Making bestows upon a scholar IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 291 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 who, over a distinguished career, has markedly contributed to the theory, methodology, practice and professional development of MCDM. We liked chatting whether it was in Pittsburgh, PA or in Canfield, OH, enjoyed browsing in parks, or wandering around on bicycle trails. I learned how to cook for him without salt, adding different ingredients instead. He liked my spinach pie. A constant topic of discussion was Handel’s ice-cream or desserts, in which we debated how much to allow him and how to prevent him eating a lot! I enjoyed our Thanksgivings together, celebrating Nina’s (John and Shawna’s daughter, Tom and Rozann’s granddaughter) birthday and our ping pong competition. We watched over the years as the children became so competitive, and it was becoming harder to beat them. These Thanksgivings always included guests, and students, mostly international students working with him. At Thanksgiving last year when I saw Tom talking to Nina, I was sad thinking that quite possibly this might be the last Thanksgiving with Tom. We enjoyed having so many dinners and lunches in Tom and Rozann’s dining room where Rozann always cooked very delicious meals for us. It was a great treat for me, and I adored the ambience of the room and wonderful conversations. We will continue sharing a table and friendship with Rozann, and when we come together we will exchange the good memories of you. As you said we will look forward, we will miss you a lot, but cherish you with your good jokes, with the people we met because of you, and with your colorful personality. Tom received the gold medal, 2004, Pittsburgh IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 292 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Birsen and Tom chatting in Pittsburgh, 2006 at Tom & Rozann’s home Birsen, Tom and Rozann at Mill Creek Park, Youngstown, 2007 IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 293 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Rozann, Birsen, and Tom, Canfield Bicycle Trail, 2009 Tom’s last Thanksgiving, 11/24/2016. Elena, Nina, and Tom; Chinese students in second row IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 294 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Birsen and Tom, at Tom and Rozann’s home, February 4, 2017, Pittsburgh Elena Rokou Remembers Tom In memoriam… I met Tom back in 2009, and since then I was lucky enough to have him as a mentor and later on I was blessed to be called friend. He was the most truly genius person that I have ever met. He always had time to teach all of us, not only about AHP, but about life as well. He was most happy when he had students around him and was always a loving father to all of them. He would ask for your opinion and listen carefully no matter how old or how experienced you were. I will never meet someone as brilliant and loving as Thomas L. Saaty. I hope that some of his questions about the universe have been answered now and I wish he could share them with us! Tom and researchers from China and Italy in 2016 IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 295 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Tom and Rozann Saaty with Emily Harker and Elena Rokou in Sorrento during ISAHP2011 Antonella Petrillo Remembers Tom My dearest thoughts The first time I personally met Tom was in 2005, with my twin sister Laura, during our vacation in Pittsburgh. For me, Tom was one of the most important “events” in my life because he “marked” both my personal and academic life. In 2011, I had the opportunity to spend a period of time in Pittsburgh with Tom and Rozann and their family, and that was one of the most beautiful and unforgettable times in my life. I will always and forever be grateful to Tom, for the opportunities he gave me. Tom gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person - he believed in me. One thing I’ll remember forever, Tom used to say to me…"Antonella ... you do not always have to run. It’s important to have time to think… to think of effective solutions to problems, to do better and better.” I am so sorry for his loss. He will be missed, forever. Laura and Antonella with Tom - Pittsburgh 2005 IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 296 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Enrique Mu Remembers Tom I invited Tom to talk to my decision-making class in Spring 2015. He was so fascinating that one of my students told me that his talk had been akin to having an out-of- body experience. I attended one of Tom’s last AHP classes at Katz. He was already in chemotherapy treatment and had lost hair so he would wear a red beret that gave him a very distinctive look. I was surprised that he still maintained such a high level of energy to teach his class. IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 297 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Tom motivated a whole generation of scholars and practitioners to dedicate their professional life to the improvement of decision-making through the use of AHP/ANP. This is one of my best memories of him, when he addressed the attendees of the ISAHP2014 in Washington, DC. Valentina Ferretti Remembers Tom I still remember the unbelievable feeling of surprise and happiness when in 2013 I received an email from Tom saying that he had heard positive things about my paper on the ANP and spatial analysis that received the Wiley Practice Prize in 2011, and that he was inviting me to spend a month in Pittsburgh to discuss research ideas together and collaborate in his ANP course. It was for me a true honor to meet Tom in person as I had been studying many of his books and papers throughout my PhD and post doc positions! But meeting him and Rozann for real was not only an honor, it was also an inspiring and touching experience from both the professional and personal point of view. I spent a beautiful beginning of autumn in Pittsburgh, enjoying challenging discussions about the AHP/ANP and decision making in general together with Tom in their house courtyard. I was impressed by Tom’s passion for his work and for science and will always remember him as an inspiring scientist and role model. It was so beautiful to see and perceive how much he loved studying, researching and developing new ideas, and this experience showed me that if you love your job you are going to enjoy it for your entire life. Tom was the most creative and dynamic mind I had the pleasure to interact with, and I will always remember the lovely time spent together while I was in Pittsburgh. One picture that I kept throughout the years was able to catch the beauty of the very positive environment he created around him and the big AHP family is a testament of this. IJAHP News and Events: Our IJAHP editorial team remembers Tom International Journal of the Analytic Hierarchy Process 298 Vol. 9 Issue 2 2017 ISSN 1936-6744 https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i2.500 Tom, Rozann, Valentina and Birsen enjoying lunch at Birsen’s place in October 2013