Distinguished Professor Emeritus Don Saari elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences

Don Saari, Distinguished Professor emeritus of economics, was recently elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences for  his work in mathematics to solve real-world problems spanning the social, behavioral and physical sciences. He was recognized at a November ceremony in Moscow, where he also received an honorary doctorate. Saari joined the UCI faculty in 2000 and in 2003 was named director of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, where he worked with social scientists, engineers, computer scientists and biologists to use math to study complex issues ranging from the amount of dark matter that may exist in space to how the economy does – or does not – function properly. “There’s a strong symbiotic relationship between science and math,” Saari said. “Discoveries in one oftentimes lead to discoveries in the other.” He officially retired from UCI in 2017 but remains an active member of the IMBS.