Legislation Describes Operations Research as Foundational to STEM Fields
BALTIMORE, MD, September 26, 2024 – In overwhelming bipartisan fashion, the U.S. House of Representatives just passed the “Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act,” (H.R. 1735) which, if enacted, would modernize STEM education in the United States. The bill passed by unanimous consent.
Sponsored by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Jim Baird, R-Ind., the bipartisan and bicameral legislation would modernize science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education in the United States to attract more young people into these studies and fields to enhance the nation’s pipeline of STEM talent.
“INFORMS has long supported the Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act and the positive impact it will have for teaching and inspiring future generations of operations research and analytics professionals,” said Jeff Cohen, chief strategy officer for INFORMS. “We applaud Representatives Houlahan and Baird for their tireless work in securing passage of this key bipartisan bill. We are hopeful the Senate will soon vote on its companion version of this bill and that it can be signed into law this year.”
The Mathematical and Statistical Modeling Education Act specifically identifies operations research as a foundational element of data-driven decision-making, and directs the National Science Foundation (NSF) to provide competitive grants to modernize STEM education through mathematical and statistical modeling, including data-driven and computational thinking. It would also direct the National Academies to conduct a study on the same topic.
About INFORMS
INFORMS advances and promotes the science and technology of decision-making to save lives, save money and solve problems. 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. INFORMS’ 12,000+ members comprise a diverse and robust international community of practitioners, researchers, educators and students from a variety of fields.
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Contact:
Ashley Smith
443-757-3578
Media Contact
Ashley Smith
Public Affairs Coordinator
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3578