17 Facts About Karl Deutsch

Karl Wolfgang Deutsch was a Czech social and political scientist.

Karl Deutsch was a professor at MIT, Yale University and Harvard University, as well as Director of WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

Karl Deutsch's uncle Julius Deutsch was an important political leader in the Social Democratic Party of Austria.

Karl Deutsch studied law at the German University of Prague, where he graduated in 1934.

Karl Deutsch discontinued further studies as his overt anti-Nazi stance caused opposition by pro-Nazi students.

Karl Deutsch married his wife Ruth Slonitz in 1936, and after spending two years in England returned to Prague where due to his former anti-Nazi activities, he could not return to the German University.

Karl Deutsch instead joined its Czech counterpart, the Charles University, where he obtained a law degree in international and canon law and a PhD in Political Sciences in 1938.

In 1939 Karl Deutsch obtained a scholarship to carry out advanced studies at Harvard University where he received a second PhD in political science in 1951.

Karl Deutsch taught at several universities; first at MIT from 1943 to 1956 ; then at Yale University until 1967; and again at Harvard until 1982.

Karl Deutsch became a professor at Harvard in 1967, becoming Stanfield Professor of International Peace at Harvard in 1971, a position he held until his death.

At Yale University, Karl Deutsch developed the Yale Political Data Program, which collected quantitative indicators for theory testing.

Karl Deutsch worked extensively on cybernetics, on the application of simulation and system dynamics models to the study of social, political, and economic problems, known as wicked problems.

Karl Deutsch built upon earlier efforts at world modeling such as those advanced and advocated by authors of the Club of Rome such as Limits to Growth by Donella Meadows, et al.

Karl Deutsch introduced new concepts such as security community to the literature.

Karl Deutsch held several other prestigious positions; he was a member of the board of World Society Foundation in Zurich, Switzerland from 1984 onwards.

Karl Deutsch was elected President of the American Political Science Association in 1969, of the International Political Science Association in 1976, and of the Society for General Systems Research in 1983.

Karl Deutsch died in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 1 November 1992.