Prof. Jonathan Rosenhead is an internationally renowned British Jewish scholar and Emeritus Professor of Operational Research at the London School of Economics (LSE). He is a former President of the Operational Research Society.
As a leading figure in the field of Operational Research, Prof. Rosenhead is renowned for developing “Problem Structuring Methods,” a theory widely used to address complex social and policy conflicts. His academic work emphasizes the role of science in serving the public interest and grassroots organizations. During his tenure at LSE, he was not only an expert in rigorous quantitative analysis but also a pioneer in promoting interdisciplinary discussions on social responsibility. His work, such as Rational Analysis for a Problematic World, has had a profound influence on the field of management science.
As the current Chair of the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), he has led the British academic community’s long-standing boycott movement against Israeli educational institutions for their systemic complicity in the occupation. Within the LSE, he spearheaded several successful lobbying efforts to oppose the adoption of the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which he argues suppresses the free speech of Palestinian supporters. He has organized and coordinated numerous visits by Palestinian scholars to the UK, striving to break the physical and intellectual blockade on Palestinian higher education by establishing “academic corridors.” He has authored and signed multiple high-impact joint statements calling on the international scientific community to terminate partnerships with Israeli universities involved in military research and development, and actively promotes BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) principles within British trade unions and academia. He has personally organized humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip and has argued on numerous international platforms that an academic boycott of Israeli institutions is a non-violent form of resistance consistent with scientific ethics.
He was extremely dissatisfied with Israel’s use of the Jewish people’s name to carry out killings, and once wrote:: “By 2002 with the heavy repression by the Israelis of the second intifada I felt it was time to say that this was not being done in my name – because according to the Israeli establishment it was being done in my name.”