David I Cleland

David Ira Cleland (March 21, 1926 – August 1, 2018) was an American engineer, Educator and professor emeritus in the School of Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, and was recognized as the "Father of Project Management".

Biography Cleland received his bachelor's degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1954, his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh School of Business in 1958, and his Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He started working at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio as a project manager in the development of weapon systems. He was also very active in Project Management at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT). He eventually retired as Lieutenant Colonel In 1967 he started his academic career, teaching Project Management for 35 years at the Swanson School of Engineering, University of Pittsburgh.

Cleland received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Project Management in 2010 from the Project Management Institute (PMI), where he was a Founding Member.

Cleland also served as consultant for both national and foreign companies. He was co-founder of the University of Pittsburgh’s Manufacturing Assistance Centre (MAC), whose mission was to provide manufacturing systems technology assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers in Western Pennsylvania.

Until 2010 he divided his time between teaching, writing and occasional speaking engagements.

Work Cleland was the author or editor of 41 books on project management, including The Project Management handbook (1988), Engineering Management and Manufacturing Management. He was the most published author of project management textbooks in the world.