IJAHP: Saaty/Words from the special issue editor 

 

 
 
 

International Journal of the 

Analytic Hierarchy Process 

310 Vol. 9 Issue 3 2017 

ISSN 1936-6744 
https://doi.org/10.13033/ijahp.v9i3.555 

 

WORDS FROM THE SPECIAL ISSUE EDITOR 

 

Dear Friends and Colleagues, 

It has been very gratifying to me to edit this memorial issue of the IJAHP in honor of 

Tom Saaty, my husband of 53 years. Tom passed away at the age of 91 on August 14
th
 

this year of cancer. He fought it bravely for more than a year. His energy was a force of 

nature, staying with him almost to the very end. With that he also had an unbelievable 

memory; a few days before he died, he was teaching a chaplain visiting him a neat new 

proof of the Pythagorean Theorem he had learned.  

In honor of Tom and his work in developing the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and 

the Analytic Network Process (ANP), the IJAHP is featuring articles from colleagues 

who had collaborated with him on research papers, or been visiting scholars at the Katz 

School of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburgh. They have shared 

stories of the work they did with him and of their personal memories and experiences.  

This special issue provides a fresh look at the wide variety of areas into which Tom 

ventured in applying the AHP, and is a reminder of the breadth of his interests. He was 

not your dry single-issue mathematician; he was interested in everything around – the 

whole human experience, the history of human thinking and how the AHP fit in it. He 

knew the famous works of philosophers and scientists and mathematicians of old and 

even religion—he could quote chapter and verse from the Bible—and he integrated all 

this knowledge into his works. Some have said that the most amazing thing about him 

was his synthesizing ability, how he could grapple with complexity and bring it under 

control.  

Enjoy this special issue in Tom’s memory! 

Rozann Saaty 

IJAHP, Guest Editor