Roy C. Amara, a longtime resident of Ladera who founded and ran the Institute for the Future to help companies, agencies and foundations steer through a murky future, died peacefully Dec. 31 at The Sequoias in Portola Valley. He was 82.
Mr. Amara was known as a brilliant, gentle, orderly man who was able to organize the Institute for the Future into a major think tank that helps clients analyze what’s coming in the future and make intelligent choices.
“We got him on board as president (in 1971); it was just what the place needed,” said Internet pioneer Paul Baran of Atherton. “He was able to run it stably. He was good at the care and feeding of prima donnas — an art form in itself.”
In a 1977 interview at the institute on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, Mr. Amara told The Almanac: “It is not enough to look at trends. The important question a problem or issue raises is: What choices do you have? What are the consequences of these choices?”
Roy Amara was raised in Boston and attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1942 and 1948, with time out to serve in the Navy during World War II. With the help of a high school scholarship and the GI Bill, he graduated from MIT in business and engineering administration. Then he went on to Harvard where he earned a master’s degree in teaching science in 1949.
Meanwhile, he had met Margaret Terestre. They married in July 1949, and headed to California. The newlyweds lived in an early Eichler house off Woodside Road while Roy worked at Sequoia High School teaching physics, algebra and geometry for three years. In 1959, they moved to Ladera.
In 1952, Mr. Amara began an 18-year career at Stanford Research Institute (now SRI International) in Menlo Park. He worked on an early SRI computer called ERMA, and rose to be a vice president of institute programs. He established and worked on research programs on interactive computing, futures studies, and decision analysis. He also earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1958.
In 1970, Mr. Amara left SRI and became president and CEO of a new think tank that aspired to help companies, government agencies and foundations analyze technical and cultural trends and make intelligent decisions.
“He was a sense maker,” said Bob Johansen, who was hired by Mr. Amara, served as president, and is still on the board of directors. “He could look at a complicated future and make sense out of it for people who have to make decisions.”
Under Mr. Amara’s leadership, the Institute for the Future explored emerging technologies, global business trends, and the future of health care. He led one of the first studies of global climate change in 1977. He initiated the institute’s annual 10-year forecast 35 years ago.
“This is idea central,” said Mr. Johansen. “He created the institute in a practical way. He established us as a viable think tank dedicated to the long term future.
“He was a very orderly person facing a disorderly world.”
Mr. Amara headed the Institute for the Future until 1990. After retiring in 1992, he continued mentoring the staff and participating in research until 1997. During the same period, he worked with the International Strategic Decisions Group. In 2004, the Amaras moved to The Sequoias retirement community in Portola Valley.
Mr. Amara was not all business and science. Family and friends remember him as an enthusiastic outdoorsman, and caring father and family man, with a wonderful warm smile. He loved hiking the Peninsula hills and the High Sierra camps. He climbed Half Dome when he was 70. He also enjoyed tennis, swimming, attending the symphony, and national and international travel.
Mr. Amara is survived by Margaret, his wife of almost 59 years; sons Mark of Moses Lake, Washington, and Dirk of Auburn, California; a daughter Christine of Redwood City; and four grandchildren.
The family plans a memorial service for Mr. Amara on Saturday, Feb. 2, from 3 to 5 p.m., at The Sequoias, 501 Portola Road in Portola Valley.
The family suggests donations in his name to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, CA 94022.
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