2019 INFORMS UPS George D. Smith Prize finalists strengthen connection between industry and academia

CATONSVILLE, MD, January 11, 2019 – INFORMS, the leading international association for professionals in operations research and analytics, has selected three finalists for the 2019 UPS George D. Smith Prize, which recognizes excellence in preparing students to become practitioners of operations research and analytics.

The 2019 finalists are:                                      

• University of Cincinnati Operations, Business Analytics and Information Systems Department
• University of Maryland Department of Decision, Operations & Information Technologies 
• University of South Carolina Operations and Supply Chain Program - Management Science Department

The winner will be announced on April 15 at the 2019 INFORMS Conference on Business Analytics & Operations Research in Austin, TX.

Named in honor of the late UPS Chief Executive Officer – a champion of operations researchers at a leading Fortune 500 corporation – the UPS George D. Smith Prize was created in the spirit of strengthening ties between industry and the schools of higher education that graduate young practitioners of operations research. The prize is awarded to an academic department or program for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research or analytics.

Past recipients of the award include the University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Air Force Academy; H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University; Sauder School of Business; University of British Columbia - Center for Operations Excellence; MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO); Naval Postgraduate School; and Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan.

About INFORMS

With 12,500 members from nearly 90 countries, INFORMS is the largest international association of operations research (O.R.) and analytics professionals and students. INFORMS provides unique networking and learning opportunities for individual professionals, and organizations of all types and sizes, to better understand and use O.R. and analytics tools and methods to transform strategic visions and achieve better outcomes.

Visit www.informs.org or @informs.

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