Minutes of the Optimization Section (OS) Business Meeting during the INFORMS Conference in Miami, Florida, November 6, 2001.

1. The meeting was called to order by Bob Vanderbei, OS Chair at 5:55 pm.
   Present at the meeting were Bob Vanderbei, Rob Freund, Kees
   Roos, David M. Gay, Matt Saltzman, Stephen Billups, Karen Lewis, Gyana R.
   Rapija, Siegfried Schaible, David Morton, Anton Kleywegt, Shabbir Ahmed,
   Kamal Jain, Jon Lee, Sanjay Mehrotra, Bill Cook, Mohit Tawarmalani, Cole
   Smith, Dushyant Sharma, John Birge, Tamas Terlaky, Francois Gliueur, and
   Sharon Filipowski.
2. OS Chair-elect Rob Freund awarded Kamal Jain with the 2001 Optimization
   Prize for Young Researchers for his paper, "A Factor 2
   Approximation Algorithm for the Generalized Steiner Tree Problem." Kamal
   was given a plaque along with $1000. Rob chaired the prize committee while
   Jonathan Eckstein, Mike Todd, David Williamson, and Steve Wright were
   members.
3. OS officer report (Bob Vanderbei):
   1. Bob thanked the following OS officers whose
      terms expire after the elections have been completed on November 16: Jon Lee
      (Vice-chair for Integer Programming), Stephen Billups (Vice-chair for Linear
      Programming and Complementarity), Richard Barr (Vice-chair for Network Flow
      Programming), and Sharon Filipowski (Secretary/Treasurer).
   2. Effective after the meeting, Rob Freund will
      serve as OS Chair during the next year. Furthermore, the following
      Vice-chairs will serve the final year of their two-year term: Hanif Sherali
      (Vice-chair for Global Optimization), Renato Monteiro (Vice-chair for
      Nonlinear Programming), and David Morton (Vice-Chair for Stochastic
      Optimization).
   3. The following people have been placed on the
      ballot to fill the vacant OS officer positions: Renato Monteiro
      (Vice-chair), Eva Lee (Vice-chair for Integer Programming), Tamas Terlaky
      (Vice-chair for Linear Programming and Complementarity), Jim Orlin
      (Vice-chair for Network Flow Programming), and Stephen Billups
      (Secretary/Treasurer). Ballots have been distributed and are due November
      16, 2001.
4. Secretary / Treasurer report (Sharon Filipowski):
   1. Sharon noted that the report is given for
      the year 2000 because many of the OS membership dues are not received until
      the end of the year so that an accurate state of the year 2001 budget cannot
      be given until the end of the year. However, Sharon noted that the
      membership and expenses have been similar over the past few years so that
      roughly the same report is expected for 2001.
   2. The OS received $3,108.00 in revenue from
      membership dues and $335.91 from interest.
   3. Expenses in 2000 totaled $2,439.64 from
      $1000 for the Optimization Prize for Young Researchers, $99.30 for the
      Optimization Prize plaque, $215.25 for advertising the Optimization Prize in
      SIAM News, and $150.03 for refreshments at the spring meeting and $975.06
      for refreshments at the fall meeting.
   4. Overall, the OS bank balance has increased
      by $1,004.27 in 2000 to $7,454.19.
5. Rob Freund proposed using the excess $1000 revenue each year
   to support the following conferences: IPCO ($500 for each conference held
   twice every three years), MPS ($1000 for each conference held once every
   three years), and SIAM Optimization ($1000 for each conference held once
   every three years). Following are the main comments that resulted from the
   discussion:
   1. Concerning supporting conferences:
      1. David Morton noted that there is a
         stochastic programming meeting once every three years.
      2. Bob Vanderbei asked if the purpose
         was just charity. Rob replied that the goal is to have the INFORMS name
         visible at other meetings as a way to advertise the INFORMS commitment to
         optimization.
      3. Jon Lee mentioned that he would prefer
         methods that were more directly aimed at getting people to attend the
         INFORMS conference.
      4. A number of ideas were given as to how
         the money could be used if it were given to support a conference including
         having the INFORMS name printed on a conference bag and sponsoring a social
         event. It was determined that the $1000 would not be enough money to
         sponsor a social event. John Birge mentioned that if it was decided that OS
         funds should be used to support a conference, he thought something different
         should be done such as supporting a High School Math Olympiad as was done
         during the MPS meeting held in Ann Arbor.
      5. John Birge noted that he believed
         both IPCO and the Stochastic Programming meeting were endorsed by the MPS so
         that MPS funds could be used to support the meetings if needed.
   2. Concerning using the money in a different
      way:
      1. Bob Vanderbei mentioned that we
         might want to do something else with the additional OS funds such as
         organize our own conference. David Gay and Matt Saltzman said that they
         thought there already were a sufficient number of conferences. Also, Matt
         noted that when the OS was started, the intention was not to organize a new
         conference.
      2. Stephen Billups mentioned that
         perhaps the money could be used to help people travel to the conference.
         Cole Smith added that he thought the focus should be on students.
   3. Actions
      1. Rob Freund and Bob Vanderbei noted
         that there seemed to be enough issues that a vote should not be taken in the
         meeting.
      2. A committee will be formed to
         determine how to spend the excess revenue each year. Rob Freund will chair
         the committee.
      3. A "straw vote" was taken with most if
         not all people present thinking that both sponsoring conferences and helping
         with student travel were good ideas.
6. Report on the new term length for the OS Chair (Bob Vanderbei)
   1. Extending the term length of the Chair from
      one year to two years was voted on by the OS membership with an e-mail
      ballot and was approved on October 3. The new term length will be effective
      when the new Chair begins his or her term next year.
7. There was a discussion concerning the Optimization Prize for
   Young Researchers. Following are the main comments concerning this
   discussion:
   1. Rob Freund suggested that the prize winner
      be asked to give a fifteen minute presentation about his or her work at the
      OS Business Meeting.
   2. Jon Lee suggested that the three finalists
      be invited to give presentations of their work in one of the sessions in the
      meeting. Rob replied that this idea might not make sense given that some of
      the papers of the finalists might have been published while some might not
      yet have been submitted for publication. This possible difference is a
      result of the fact that the prize can be given to anyone who has been
      awarded his or her terminal degree within five years of the closing date of
      the nomination. Also, Matt Saltzman noted that such a session is likely to
      conflict with other sessions.
   3. Bob proposed that the prize winner be
      invited to give a fifteen minute presentation about his or her work during
      the OS Business Meeting. John Birge seconded the motion. The motion was
      approved, and the 2002 prize winner will be invited to give a presentation
      on his or her work during the OS Business Meeting.
8. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.

Submitted by Sharon Filipowski, OS Secretary / Treasurer.