1928 – 2025
Michael Scriven (1928–2025) was an influential philosopher and evaluation theorist best known for his foundational contributions to the philosophy of science, logic, and educational evaluation. He developed key concepts in evaluation methodology and made significant contributions to critical thinking theory and informal logic.
Developed foundational concepts in program evaluation methodology, including formative and summative evaluation
Contributed to the philosophy of science, particularly on explanation and causation
Advanced the field of critical thinking and informal logic education
Argued for the importance of general thinking skills against domain-specificity claims
Authored influential works including 'Evaluation Thesaurus' and contributions to logic textbooks