Alan D. Swain
American human factors engineer
About Alan D. Swain
Lived 1923 – 2021 (aged 97–98).
Dr. Alan D. Swain III (Nov. 21, 1923 – Nov. 2, 2021) was a human factors engineer who specialized in weapons systems and nuclear power plants. He was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratories, where he developed the technique for human error-rate prediction (THERP). According to a bibliometrics analysis performed in 2020, Swain is the most highly cited author in the field of human reliability analysis.
Swain co-authored the Handbook of Human Reliability Analysis with Emphasis on Nuclear Power Plant Applications, which became a basic guide for many in the human factors field.
Education Swain graduated from Marion Harding High School in 1941. He received an MA in 1948, and a Ph.D. in psychology in 1953, from The Ohio State University.
Awards Swain was a Fellow in the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).
In 1984, Swain received the HFES Jack A. Kraft Innovator award
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Important facts
Contemporaries
People whose lives overlapped Alan D. Swain's
Frequently asked questions
Who was Alan D. Swain?
American human factors engineer
When was Alan D. Swain born?
Alan D. Swain was born in 1923.
When did Alan D. Swain die?
Alan D. Swain died in 2021.
Sources & further reading
Cite this page
APA: Biography.guide. (2026). Alan D. Swain. https://biography.guide/alan-d-swain/
MLA: "Alan D. Swain." Biography.guide, https://biography.guide/alan-d-swain/.
Chicago: "Alan D. Swain." Biography.guide. https://biography.guide/alan-d-swain/.
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