Horvath, William J., 1917-

Scientist and researcher specializing in the field of operations research, during World War II he conducted studies of undersea warfare. Horvath came to the University of Michigan in 1958 as a research physicist with the Mental Health Research Institute conducting research on mathematical models of behavior and health systems.

William J. Horvath was a specialist in the field of operations research. Lauded for his work on underwater and air warfare during World War II, Horvath continued his career at the University of Michigan, where he served as a professor under the Department of Psychiatry. He also dedicated much of his career to the University's Mental Health Research Institute, where he was a recognized authority on mental health services.

Born in New York City in 1917, William J. Horvath attended, successively, Townsend Harris High School, the City College of New York (CCNY), and New York University (NYU). He received his B.S. from CCNY in 1936, and his M.S. from NYU in 1938 and his Ph.D. from New York University in 1940. His research thesis concerned the measurements of neutrons. He was a University Fellow at NYU from 1937 to 1939, and served concurrently as an instructor in Physics at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn from 1939 to 1940. Employed by the Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Department as a physicist on problems of mine warfare from 1940 to 1943, Horvath worked under Philip Morse on operations research studies in anti-submarine and air warfare. He later served on both the staffs of Commander Submarine Force Pacific Fleet and the Commander Naval Air Units Pacific Fleet.

During World War II Horvath was a member of the U.S. Navy's Operations Evaluation Group, and later served in a similar capacity to the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. He was in charge of the undersea warfare section from 1946 to 1948, and was Deputy Director of the group in 1949-1950. In 1950 he became a member of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he served as a member of the Review Board for two years.

The years after the war, 1945 to 1949, were spent in helping to organize the Navy's Operations Evaluation Group (OEG) under diverse assignments such as advisor to Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare, Operations Research Consultant to Naval Attaché London, England, and finally two years spent as Deputy Director of the OEG Horvath was awarded the Naval Ordnance Development Award and the Presidential Certificate of Merit for his operations research studies in the War, in 1945 and 1947, respectively. He served as a consultant to a number of government agencies on systems problems, as well, working with the Health Services Study Section of the National Institutes of Health in addition to the Health Care Facilities Ad Hoc Advisory Committee of U.S. Public Health Service.

Horvath was a founder and former vice president of the Operations Research Society of America, and served as chairman of the Health Applications Section of the Society. His interest in medical problems began in 1955 when he became Section Head in the Biological and Medical Electronics group of the Airborne Instrument Laboratory. Horvath had a long history working at the Mental Health Research Institute of the University of Michigan, where he worked from 1958 until the late 1980s as a research physicist and scientist, developing mathematical theories of behavior. Appointed professor of health systems in Michigan's Department of Psychiatry in 1972, he also served as the associate director of the University's Health Services Research Center. He became a leader in analysis of health systems at the University of Michigan, conducting studies of health care services delivery, nerve networks, medical diagnosis, and theories of individual and group behavior. In 1977, he initiated the Washtenaw County Health Survey, which has been used as the basis for a number of successful interventions in preventive health behavior.

William Horvath died in 2004.