INFORMS Names 2021 Fellows

12 members to be inducted in October for outstanding lifetime accomplishments and contributions in operations research and analytics

CATONSVILLE, MD, October 4, 2021 – INFORMS, the largest association for decision and data sciences, has officially named 12 outstanding members as Fellows, one of the highest honors in the O.R. profession. The 2021 INFORMS Fellows will be inducted during the 2021 INFORMS Annual Meeting, Oct. 24-27, which will be held both virtually and on location in Anaheim, Calif. INFORMS Fellows are honored for their outstanding lifetime accomplishments and contributions in operations research and analytics.  

2021 INFORMS Honorary Fellows

Ritu Agarwal is the Robert H. Smith Dean’s Chair of Information Systems at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and founding director of the school’s Center for Health Information and Decision Systems (CHIDS). She is being honored for her pioneering contributions to information systems research in the application of digital technologies and analytics to healthcare, and for dedicated service and leadership in the information systems community.

Russell Allgor is the chief scientist for Amazon.com. He leads a team of mathematical modeling experts in Amazon’s Global Fulfillment Systems and Worldwide Logistics group. He is being recognized for significant management and application of operations research and management science to design and improve logistics and fulfillment systems for e-commerce.

Ronald G. Askin is a professor of industrial engineering in the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence at Arizona State University. He is being honored for excellence in academic and education innovations, leadership and contributions to INFORMS, and for widely recognized practice-oriented research in manufacturing and production systems.

Stephen Chick is a professor of technology and operations management and academic director of the Healthcare Management Initiative at INSEAD. He directs the Middle East Health Leadership Programme, Strategic Innovation for Community Health, and Innovating Health for Tomorrow programs. He is being recognized for outstanding work in stochastic modeling with significant impact on healthcare research, practice and policymaking.

John Fowler is a Motorola Professor and Chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management in the W. P. Carey School of Business and the senior sustainability scientist in the Global Institute of Sustainability and Innovation at Arizona State University. He is being recognized for significant contributions to the solution of operations problems in semiconductor manufacturing, supply chains and healthcare; sustained service to the profession; and dedicated mentoring of students, colleagues and collaborators.

David Gamarnik is a Nanyang Technological University professor of operations research at the Operations Research and Statistics Group, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is being honored for fundamental contributions to the analysis of complex stochastic networks and the understanding of stochastic phenomena.

Nicholas G. Hall is a professor in the departments of Management Sciences and Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University. He served for more than 40 years on the editorial boards of the INFORMS journals Operations Research and Management Science. He is being honored for exceptional service to INFORMS and fundamental contributions to scheduling theory and project management. 

Robert Leachman is professor of industrial engineering and operations research at the University of California, Berkeley. Leachman is a recipient of the Franz Edelman Award for his work designing and implementing automated production planning systems in the semiconductor industry. He is being recognized for notable contributions to applied research and implementation of production planning methodologies and manufacturing processes management in multiple industries.

Mark Lewis is a Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Engineering in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering at Cornell University. He is being honored for great impact in advancing minority issues, extended professional service to INFORMS, excellence in academic leadership, and research and teaching in stochastic modeling.

Irvin (Irv) Lustig, CAP, is an optimization principal at Princeton Consultants, where he leads the development of custom optimization software. He is being recognized for sustained contributions to the development of optimization software and innovative and impactful service to the profession.

Alice Smith is the Joe W. Forehand/Accenture Distinguished Professor in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Auburn University. She is editor-in-chief of the INFORMS Journal on Computing. She is being recognized for contributions to the use of bio-inspired optimization algorithms and for distinguished service to the profession and to education. 

Alexander Stolyar is a professor in the department of Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is being honored for his fundamental contributions to applied probability and advancing the frontiers of queueing theory motivated by telecommunication systems.

About INFORMS 

With more than 12,000 members from around the world, INFORMS is the largest association for the decision and data sciences, made up of professionals and students. INFORMS members support organizations and governments at all levels as they work to transform data into information, and information into insights that lead to more efficient, effective, equitable and impactful results. 

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Ashley Smith

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