Michael Harrison has developed and analyzed stochastic models in several different domains related to business, including mathematical finance and processing network theory. His current research is focused on call center management, dynamic pricing, and revenue management.

Michael Harrison received a BS degree in industrial engineering from Lehigh University in 1966, an MS in industrial engineering from Stanford in 1967, and a PhD in operations research, also from Stanford, in 1970. That same year he joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Business as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1973 and to Professor in 1978.

Professor Harrison’s research focuses on stochastic models of business systems and business processes. In a four-year period around 1980 he coauthored two influential papers in mathematical finance, developing the mathematical foundations of option theory. In particular, he and his Stanford Graduate School of Business colleague David Kreps introduced the notion of equivalent martingale measures, which have since become a standard tool in theoretical analysis.

More recently Professor Harrison's research and teaching have focused on the field of production and operations management, with emphasis on the time dimension of system performance. He has developed a family of stochastic system models called Brownian networks, which approximate the behavior of processing systems that arise in many different contexts, both for purposes of descriptive performance analysis and for purposes of optimal flow management. He has also coauthored a string of recent papers on optimization of telephone call center operations.

Professor Harrison’s newest initiatives are in the area of dynamic pricing and revenue management (also called yield management). He introduced an MBA course on that subject in 2003 and has launched a research project focused on dynamic pricing when demand is uncertain. Professor Harrison is the author of one book and more than 80 articles in scholarly journals.