Bill Platt was an SRI pioneer in the evolution of operations research, ranging from solving military problems to industrial and social applications worldwide. In the late 1950s, he organized the Management Sciences Division and was instrumental in forming a leadership team that included many of its stars, including Dennis Finnigan, Peter Butterfield, Bob Harker, Rogers Cannell, Al Shapiro, Dick Singleton, Howard Vollmer, and Bill White.
When the Management Sciences Division was well established, in 1961, Platt saw a need for a different approach to SRI’s work in regional economics and human resources, so he formed a new Economic Development Division that combined these fields, both domestic and international. During this period, SRI’s International Development Center was a leading contractor of the US Agency for International Development and the Ford Foundation in India, Cyprus, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Cameroons, the Philippines, and other countries. Platt also supervised Eugene Staley’s team, which published six volumes of studies on small-scale industry development, sponsored by the Ford Foundation.
The Economic Development Division also had successful programs in real estate research and recreation economics. These included research for professional sports leagues and feasibility studies for stadiums and convention centers.
During this same period, Platt organized a team to apply advanced education technologies and methods, developed under military contracts, to civilian education. His innovative approach to the human resources side brought him a contract from the United Nations to design and establish a center for such research. A successful design led Bill to resign from SRI and head up the new center in Paris, where he finished his career.