The Institute for Operational Research (IOR) was established on 1 May 1963 as a semi-autonomous unit of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR), which provided 'an administrative and spiritual home for the new research institute'. The idea was originated within the Operational Research Society by Neil Jessop. Professor R. Ackoff initiated talks between the Operational Research Society and the TIHR. Neil Jessop was the first Director of the IOR and Sir Charles Goodeve was first Chairman of the IOR advisory committee. Neil Jessop died suddenly on 26 April 1969, and was succeeded by his deputy, John Stringer. The IOR was re-organised and run by the Director and an elected committee of staff. In 1973, the IOR agreed to an internal merger with a group of social scientists from the TIHR with whom they had worked for a number of years. In 1979, this inter-disciplinary unit adopted the title Centre for Organisational and Operational Research (COOR). The COOR disbanded in 1985. Staff numbers had declined and the work of the COOR became difficult to differentiate from that of the TIHR.
Reference: MSS.335/IOR/COOR40; MSS.335/IOR/6/1; MSS.335/SO/16/1.
From the guide to the Institute for Operational Research, 1950-1995, (Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick)
