Words in Honor of Others
One of the delights of my life has been being in the right place, at the right time, among the right people, to write and speak in tribute to some of the finest people serving our field. They helped us be our best, they served, they encouraged, and we are grateful for all that they did. At the seminar at MIT to honor Jay Forrester after he died, I chose to honor him not by talking about his research and publications or even his founding the field, but rather as the dedicated teacher I knew him to be. Jim and Faith Waters I met in my years helping K-12 teachers create system dynamics in the schools. Jim and Faith were absolutely essential to that movement. You will enjoy reading what teachers said about them. The next person honored here is my treasured colleague and friend David Andersen. It was fortunate that I had recently been the Chair of our Department so I was the likely choice to give this tribute, so I didn’t have to knock anybody down racing to the podium. I loved writing these tributes for these splendid people. Then comes Lees Stuntz, with Jay co-founder of the Creative Learning Exchange. She worked tirelessly, largely behind the scenes, to leave a last legacy in education. Saras Chung is honored here for an unusual contribution, an inspiring introduction of a plenary speaker. Finally, a fitting memorial for a giant in the fields of management science, strategy, and group process, and a great friend of system dynamics.
Honoring Others
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Jay W. Forrester, as Teacher
In a Symposium at MIT honoring the late Jay W. Forrester, I chose to remember Jay as a deeply dedicated and gifted teacher.
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Jim and Faith Waters
The Waters were long-time, unwavering, wise supporters of system dynamics thinking in early education. Here the System Dynamics Society honored them with a Special Recognition written just for them.
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David F. Andersen
I had the honor of giving David the Rockefeller College Distinguished Service Award at our award ceremonies in 2015.
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Lees Stuntz, 2025 Distinguished Service Award
Co-founder of the Creative Learning Exchange in 1991 with Jay Forrester, Lees has spent over three decades advancing pre-college systems education. She has built lasting infrastructure, supported educators, inspired students, and expanded access to system dynamics thinking hosting conferences and helping teachers turn their teaching into texts. A longtime leader in the System Dynamics Society, she has made systems thinking approachable, practical, and impactful, leaving a lasting legacy in education.
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Saras Chung Introduced Richardson's Plenary at the 2026 System Dynamics Conference
Professor Saras Chung is a social systems scientist with over two decades of experience as a youth development practitioner and system dynamics researcher. Her scholarly work focuses on the side effects of policies and practices intended to foster adolescent well-being.
She is currently a Research Associate Professor at the Washington University Brown School of Social Work, and Director of the Social System Design Lab.
[I honor Saras here for her work and for the best introduction I’ll ever receive.]
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Colin Eden (1943-2026)
Colin, a colleague of many years, world renowned management scientist and group process expert, shown here on the sailboat he loved.
Colin’s recent books, which influenced David Andersen and me greatly, include Making Strategy: Mapping out Strategic Success (2011), an earlier shorter work The Practice of Making Strategy: a Step-by-Step guide (2005) — both with his great colleague Fran Ackermann — and Visible Thinking: Unlocking causal mapping for practical business results (2004), with Fran, John Bryson, and Charles Finn.