Minas was an important figure in the early history of the Department of Philosophy, but it was in his administrative roles that Minas made his biggest mark at Waterloo. He served two stints as Dean of Arts, from 1967-70 and 1974-79. He also served as Dean of Graduate Studies in 1966-67, and as the University Computing Officer in 1982-83. "The Minas Formula" was used by the Faculty of Arts for over 40 years to determine equitable allocations of resources to departments.
One colleague recalls that he spent some time as the Interim Chair of the former Department of Human Relations, "which was unable to govern itself because of continued squabbling among its members (the unit was finally disbanded!)" Near the end of his career, Minas moved to the University of Pennsylvania, then to Drexel University.
His
PhD
thesis
was
on many-valued
logic,
and
he
spent
many
years
working
in
"operations research"
-
a
field
nowadays
more
liked
to
be
called
"management science".
He
also
worked
in
decision
theory
and
in
the
more mathematical
parts
of
the
philosophy
of
science,
including
confirmation theory.
Minas
is
recalled
fondly
by
those
who
had
a
chance
to
work
with
him
as
a
man
of
great
charm
and
humour.
One
remarked
on
his
wit---he
was
locally well
known
for
his
observation
that
most
of
the
decision
theorists
he worked
with
were
almost
wholly
incapable
of
actually
making
decisions
about
the
practical
details
of
life.
In
the
words
of
another,
"he
was a
very
remarkable
person,
one
of
a
kind
and
sorely
missed."