Michael Cohen Remembrance

Tuesday, 12 February 2013 11:47 Last Updated on Saturday, 16 February 2013 12:56 Written by Michael Lounsbury

Michael Cohen, who died on February 2, 2013, was well known for his scholarly contributions that include the famous paper on the "garbage can model of organizational choice" (with March & Olsen, ASQ 1972), and his subsequent work on leadership and ambiguity, learning and organizational routines, and Pragmatism with an eye towards understanding the relationship of routine action to psychological systems of memory and perception.

A student of Jim March (Ph.D. in Decision Sciences at UC Irvine), he was instrumental in the formation of scholarly communities and institutions – e.g., at University of Michigan, the Institute for Public Policy Studies (later the Ford School of Public Policy), the Collaboratory for Research on Electronic Work (CREW) and later the iSchool, and of course the Interdisciplinary Committee on Organizational Studies (ICOS). His mentorship of young scholars was also quite extensive. We at OMT would like to take this opportunity to celebrate Michael Cohen. For those interested in sharing memories of Michael, please see: www.michael-cohen.org

So far, we have received remarks from Sid Winter, Curtis LeBaron and James March, as well as comments posted to the blog by Dan Levinthal:

> Remembering Michael, by Sid Winter
> Memorial Message for Michael Cohen, by Curtis LeBaron
> On Michael Cohen, by James March

We encourage others who knew or were inspired by Michael to share their thoughts with the OMT community as well -- either by contacting me, or simply posting your thoughts and comments here on the OMT Blog.

Michael Lounsbury
OMT Division Chair Elect
February 11, 2013

Tags: Garbage Can Model | Jim March | Michael Cohen

Comments

0 #2 Alessandro Lomi 2013-02-26 14:24

I have been following his work and tracking his ideas since I was an undergraduate student. But this was one hundred years ago. So many times during this period I wished his ideas could be my own. I met Michael only a short while ago. Until recently, he suggested papers that I should read, politely gesturing towards ideas that I should be having. I am truly grateful.

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+3 #1 Dan Levinthal 2013-02-13 10:44

There are a handful of scholars whose ideas and work are influential, but even fewer who are both influential and loved by those whom they have influenced. I was extraordinary fortunate that as an early stage doctoral student at Stanford to have overlapped with Michael who, at the time, was taking a sabbatical at Stanford having just received tenure at Michigan. Michael introduced me into the world of complex adaptive systems and more importantly let me enter the orb of his warmth, caring, and modeling of how to live a life of meaning and engagement. The warm smile, the twinkle in the eye, the simultaneously thoughtful and teasing comment, and most of all the friendship, are memories that I will always cherish and will always enrich my life.

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