Logic List Mailing Archive

Patrick Suppes (1922-2014)

With great sadness, I write to share the news that our great friend and 
colleague Patrick Suppes died Monday at home, peacefully and surrounded by 
his family.  He is survived by his wife, five children, three step 
children, and five grandchildren.

The influence of Pat on the intellectual life and shape of our department 
simply cannot be overstated.  He has been at Stanford since 1952, and has 
been a major influence on our department and many other units on campus. 
He made huge contributions to the philosophy of science, to formal 
philosophy, and was recently heavily involved in empirical research into 
the brain.  He was a leading inspirational figure behind the so-called 
"Stanford School" in the philosophy of science, and his intense and 
brilliant persona as a philosophical interlocutor has decisively shaped 
the personality of our department and the philosophical sensibilities of 
those of us who knew him while working here.

It is a great loss to our community, and I ask you to join me in keeping 
his family and many friends in your thoughts.

R. Lanier Anderson
Philosophy Department, Stanford University, Chair