Richard Jeffrey GS '57, an expert on decision theory and a University professor emeritus, died Nov. 9 in Princeton. He was 76.
Despite his considerable academic accomplishments, Jeffrey was always low-key and "generous," said longtime colleague and graduate school classmate Paul Benacerraf '52, a University philosophy professor.
"Nothing he ever did was at the expense of anyone else," he said.
Benacerraf's comments were echoed by one of Jeffrey's thesis students, Christopher Sibley '96.
"He was just as eager to help a relative newcomer . . . as he was to work with his most advanced grad students on the cutting edge of his work," he said.
But neither Benacerraf nor Sibley had any doubt that Jeffrey's friendly demeanor went hand in hand with a first-rate intellect.
"He wrote with extraordinary elegance and thought with extraordinary elegance," Bencerraf said.
Born in Boston, Jeffrey spent a few years at Boston University before joining the Navy during World War II. After the war, he received his master's degree at the University of Chicago in 1952 and his doctorate at Princeton in 1957.
After that, he taught at several universities, including Stanford University and the University of Pennsyl-vania, before coming to Princeton as a philosophy professor in 1974.
Over several decades, Jeffrey made many significant contributions to philosophy, particularly in the realm of decision-making. He was especially influential in the development of Bayesianism — the view that the decision-making process is an assessment of different probabilities.
Bayesianism not only has major implications for epistemology and philosophy, but also for social sciences such as economics. Jeffrey's first major work, "The Logic of Decision" in 1965, is a well-respected text in decision-making, and his textbooks on logic and judgment have been staples for many students.
Jeffrey's achievements were recognized by many of his peers, who elected him to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1994.
Jeffrey taught at the University for 25 years, retiring in 1999.
He continued teaching as a visiting professor at the University of California at Irvine.
Though colleagues consider Jeffrey one of the most influential philosophers of decision-making in the 20th century, Sibley said his influence on his students may be just as significant.
"It wasn't possible to spend any time in his 1879 Hall office without absorbing some of the energy, enthusiasm and sheer sense of fun he brought to the work," Sibley said.
Jeffrey is survived by his wife, two children and two grandchildren.
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