Herbert A. Simon was an American political scientist whose research ranged across the fields of cognitive psychology, computer science, public administration, economics, management, philosophy of science and sociology and was a professor, most notably, at Carnegie Mellon University. With almost a thousand often very highly cited publications he is one of the most influential social scientists of the 20th century. Herbert Alexander Simon was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 15, 1916. His father, Arthur Simon was an electrical engineer.

Simon graduated from the University of Chicago in 1936 and earned a doctorate in political science there in 1943. Later in his career, Simon pursued means of creating artificial intelligence through computer technology. He wrote several books on computers, economics, and management, and in 1986 he won the U.S. National Medal of Science.