INFORMS News: Call for Nominations

John von Neumann Theory Prize

The John von Neumann Theory Prize is awarded annually to a scholar (or scholars in the case of joint work) who has made fundamental, sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences. The award is given each year at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in the fall if there is a suitable recipient. Although the prize is normally given to a single individual, in the case of accumulated joint work, the recipients can be multiple individuals.

The prize is awarded for a body of work, typically published over a period of several years. Although recent work should not be excluded, the prize typically reflects contributions that have stood the test of time. The criteria for the prize are broad, and include significance, innovation, depth and scientific excellence.

The award is $5,000, a medallion and a citation.

The prize committee is currently seeking nominations, which should be in the form of a letter (preferably e-mail) addressed to the prize committee chair (below), highlighting the nominee’s accomplishments. Although the letter need not contain a detailed account of the nominee’s research, it should document the overall nature of his or her contributions and their impact on the profession, with particular emphasis on the prize’s criteria. The nominee’s curriculum vitae, while not mandatory, would be helpful. Compress electronic files if more than 10 MB.

Nominations should be submitted to the committee chair (see below) as soon as possible, but no later than June 1.

See this page online for complete details:
http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/John-von-Neumann-Theory-Prize/John-von-Neumann-Theory-Prize-Application-Process

2012 Committee Chair: Dimitris Bertsimas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, E40-147, Cambridge, MA 02139; voice: +1 617-253-4223; fax: +1 617-258-7579; e-mail: dbertsim@mit.edu.

George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award

The George B. Dantzig Award is given for the best dissertation in any area of operations research and the management sciences that is innovative and relevant to practice. The award has been established to encourage academic research that combines theory and practice and stimulates greater interaction between doctoral students (and their advisors) and the world of practice. The award is given at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in the fall.
All certificates read as follows: for the best dissertation that is innovative and relevant to the practice of operations research and the management sciences.

The George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award Committee is now accepting entries for the 2012 award. The award for the best OR/MS dissertation serves to promote greater interaction between academia and industry by encouraging researchers to conduct innovative research that is relevant to practice in any area of operations research and management science. The first and second place winners will receive awards of $800 and $400, respectively. Additional finalists will receive honorable mentions with $100 awards. Prizes will be awarded at the INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Each entry must:

1. consist of a doctoral dissertation written primarily by the entrant no more than 15 months prior to the submission deadline (completed between April 8, 2011 and July 8, 2012) and not previously submitted;
2. present original ideas obtained predominantly by the entrant; and
3. clearly illustrate and demonstrate the relevance of the work in practice and the potential impact in industry.

Entrants should collect and submit the following items on or before July 8:

1. a letter of recommendation from the entrant’s thesis advisor that describes the significance of the research and comments on the originality of the work;
2. a letter of recommendation from an industry associate that describes the relevance and the potential benefits of the research in their organization. This letter must be written by a manager familiar with the research who has served as an advisor to the research or as a coordinator to the on-site research project. The manager should be informed that they may be contacted by the committee members asking questions regarding the entrant’s research;
3. a summary of the dissertation (less than five double-spaced pages) highlighting the significance of the problem, the novelty of the methodological approach, the contribution of the research to industry and the scope of the dissertation; anda self-contained paper (less than 25 double-spaced pages) based on the thesis so that the award committee can evaluate the contribution of the work.

Entrants should send the above items in an e-mail (subject line beginning with “Dantzig” and items as separate PDF files) to the chair of the George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award.

See this page online for complete details:
http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/George-B.-Dantzig-Dissertation-Award/George-B.-Dantzig-Dissertation-Award-Application-Process

2012 Committee Chair: Aliza R. Heching, IBM TJ Watson Research Center, 1101 Kitchawan Road, Route 134, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598 U.S.A.; e-mail: ahechi@us.ibm.com.

In addition, the signed originals of the letters of recommendation should be mailed, postmarked on or before July 8, to: INFORMS, Attention: Courtney Biefeld, 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 300, Hanover, MD 21076; e-mail: Courtney.biefeld@informs.org.

Lanchester Prize

The Lanchester Prize is awarded for the best contribution to operations research and the management sciences published in English in the past three years. The award will be given at the 2012 INFORMS Annual Meeting, if there is a suitable recipient.

To be eligible, a book, a paper or a group of books or papers must meet the following requirements:

1. It must be on an operations research/management science subject.
2. It must have been published in one of the preceding three years or, in the case of a group, at least one member of the group must have been published in one of those years.
3. It must be written in the English language.
4. It must have appeared in the open literature.

Books or papers may be case histories, reports of research representing new results or primarily synthesis. For any nominated set (group of either articles or books) published over more than one year, it is expected that each element in the set is part of one continuous effort, such as a multi-year project or a continuously written, multi-volume book.
To be eligible for consideration, each book or paper must be nominated to the committee. Anyone may make nominations. The committee will use the following criteria in making judgments:

• the extent to which the contribution advances the state of the art of operations research and the management sciences;
• the originality of the ideas or methods;
• the new areas of application it opens up;
• the degree to which existing theory or method is unified or simplified;
• the clarity and excellence of the exposition; and
• the degree to which the contribution provides value for future applications, or enables improved practice.

A nomination consists of:

• a nominating letter specifying the work being nominated and explaining why it is deserving of the Lanchester Prize. Nominating letters must include the titles of paper(s) or book(s), author(s), and the place and date of publication;
• supporting letters, if desired. Supporting statements bearing on the worth of the publication in terms of the six criteria above will be very helpful, but are not required; and
• six copies of the work.

See this page online for complete details:
http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/Frederick-W.-Lanchester-Prize/Frederick-W.-Lanchester-Prize-Application-Process

The prize is $5,000 and a commemorative medallion. If there are multiple winners, a medallion is struck for each and the monetary award is shared equally. Each author of an honorable mention receives a certificate but no monetary award.

Send nominations by June 15 to: INFORMS, Attn: Courtney Biefeld, 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 300, Hanover, MD 21076; e-mail: Courtney.biefeld@informs.org.

2012 Committee Chair: David D. Yao, Columbia University, Department of IE & OR, 302 Mudd Bldg, Mc4704, 500 West 120 St., New York, NY 10027-6699; voice: +1 212-854-2934; e-mail: yao@columbia.edu.

George Nicholson Student Paper Competition

The George Nicholson Committee competition is held each year to identify and honor outstanding papers in the field of operations research and the management sciences written by a student.

The following conditions must be met for eligibility:

1. The entrant must have been a student on or after Dec. 1 of the previous year under consideration.
2. The paper must present original research results (a summary of multiple papers is not eligible).
3. The research must have been conducted while the entrant was a student.
4. One or more advisors may appear as co-authors of a paper, but the student’s contributions must make up the majority of the paper. The advisor (or nominator) must explicitly comment upon and specify in a letter the percentage of contribution of the student: a. in defining the problem and initiating the research that resulted in the paper; b. in conducting the research itself that resulted in the paper; and c. in writing the paper.
5. An entrant can be a (co-)author in at most one paper submitted to the competition. More than one entrant per paper is allowed as long as they are eligible.
6. The paper must not have won a prize (1st or 2nd) in a previous Nicholson Competition.
7. Paper formatting requirements: a. The paper should use the formatting template provided by the prize committee (this will determine the font, margins and spacing requirements); b. The paper must be of standard letter size (A4 will not be accepted); c. The entire paper (including title, abstract, authors names and affiliations, bibliography, appendices, figures, etc.) must not exceed 25 pages, and except for those containing references, each page should contain no more than 30 lines of text.

Prizes will be awarded and finalists will be invited to present their papers at the 2012 INFORMS Annual Meeting.
Submission: All student entrants must register for an easychair account through: https://www.easychair.org/account/signup.cgi?iid=37847.

Once registered, entrants should use the submission page: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=nicholson2011.

A complete entry consists of: 1) an electronic pdf file of one self-contained paper in the specified format (papers not satisfying the format will not be accepted); and 2) an electronic pdf file of a letter (the required attachment) signed by both a faculty advisor and the entrant attesting that the seven eligibility conditions have been satisfied by the entrant and the paper.

Note that the faculty advisor must explicitly comment upon and specify the percentage of contribution of the student in: 1) defining the problem and initiating the research that resulted in the paper; 2) in conducting the research itself that resulted in the paper; and 3) in writing the paper.

See this page online for complete details: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/George-Nicholson-Student-Paper-Competition/George-Nicholson-Student-Paper-Competition-Application-Process.

All entries must be submitted to EasyChair no later than May 31. Applicants are strongly advised to check the INFORMS Website for submission information.

2012 Committee Chair: Ashish Goel, Stanford University, Huang Engineering Center, 475 Via Ortega, Rm. 359, Stanford, CA 94305-4121; voice: +1 650-814-1478; fax: +1 650-723-1614; e-mail: ashishg@stanford.edu.

INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice

The INFORMS Prize for the Teaching of OR/MS Practice will be given annually, if there is a suitable recipient, to a university or college teacher for excellence in teaching the practice of OR/MS. The purpose of this award is to recognize a teacher who has succeeded in helping his or her students to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective practitioners of operations research or the management sciences. An “effective practitioner” has respect for, understanding of, and the skills to surmount both the practical difficulties and the technical challenges of doing good OR/MS work.

The award will be presented at the 2012 INFORMS Annual Meeting. Nominations may be provided either by a nominator or the nominee. Nominations should include:

• nominee’s name, affiliation, address, telephone, fax, e-mail;
• a short (250-500 words) description, abstract, or philosophical statement about the course or pedagogical approach;
• description(s) of specific projects, cases, or scenarios used;
• statements of support from past students who are now in practice;
• statements of support from industrial sponsors and/or qualified observers and/or supervisors of students now in practice; and
• be no longer than 20 pages in 12-point type.

See this page online for complete details: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/INFORMS-Prize-for-the-Teaching-of-the-OR-MS-Practice/INFORMS-Prize-for-Teaching-of-ORMS-Practice-Application-Process.

Nominators should alert the committee chair by e-mail of forthcoming nominations at least one month before the submission deadline of June 30. Any questions should also be directed to the committee chair. The nomination should be submitted as a pdf file attachment to an e-mail to the committee chair: Michael F. Gorman, University of Dayton, 300 College Park, Dayton, OH 45469; voice: +1 937-229-3382; fax: +1 937-229-1030; e-mail: michael.gorman@udayton.edu.

In addition, one copy of the nomination should be sent to the INFORMS office: INFORMS, Attention: Courtney Biefeld, 7240 Parkway Drive, Suite 300, Hanover, MD 21076; e-mail: Courtney.biefeld@informs.org.

INFORMS Expository Writing Award

The INFORMS Expository Writing Award honors an operations researcher/management scientist whose publications demonstrate a consistently high standard of expository writing.

This award recognizes an author whose publications in operations research and management science have set an exemplary standard of exposition. The awardee’s written work, published over a period of at least 10 years, should indicate (in terms of breadth of readership) an influence and accessibility enhanced by expository excellence. Criteria include the lucidity, conciseness, logic and interest of the writing at all levels, from the general organization to the details. The author must have affected, through these publications, how something is done, studied, taught or thought about by some group within the OR/MS community.

The written work can contain any combination of practical, theoretical and pedagogical subject matter, and may be original, synthetic or historical. The corpus as a whole must be substantial in content, not necessarily prize-worthy in itself, but not trivial.

The publications in question can be books or papers in any combination, although enough of them must have been singly authored to demonstrate the awardee’s expository skill. A team of authors writing together consistently over many years may also be considered for the award.

The winner will receive $2,000 and a framed certificate that includes a brief citation at the 2012 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

See this page online for complete details: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/INFORMS-Expository-Writing-Award.

Nominations should include references to examples of the nominee’s expository writing, as well as evidence of the influence these works have had on the OR/MS profession. Nominations must be sent by August 15 to: (2012 Committee Chair) Richard Steinberg, London School of Economics, Department of Management, NAB 3.08, Houghton Street, London, WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom; e-mail: r.j.steinberg@lse.ac.uk.

Doing Good with Good OR - Student Competition

INFORMS is again sponsoring a competition to encourage student research and practice that has societal impact. The “Doing Good with Good OR Student Competition” will feature the most exciting work performed by students in partnership with public and private organizations that yields tangible and beneficial outcomes for individuals, communities and organizations. Such work will be infused with OR/MS methods and could appeal to multiple disciplinary and application-area interests.

Submission process:

• nomination letter by the partner organization or a faculty member describing the societal impact of the work and the portion of the work (including the project duration) solely completed by the student entrant(s) during the time they were enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program;
• two- or three-page summary document that describes what the entrants accomplished (focusing on the societal impact and the centrality of the operations research and management science tools used);
• 60-word abstract of the achievement;
• submissions should be e-mailed to either of the Prize Competition co-chairs listed below;
• finalists (announced by June 30) must submit no later than Sept. 14 a full paper (a maximum of 25 pages, double spaced, 12 point font) describing the project and its outcomes;
• entrants will be expected to report on a project done in partnership with an organization that can certify that the results of the project have had, or are likely to have, a significant societal impact;
• any work with positive societal impact that has been completed within the last three years (class project, thesis research, independent study, internship, voluntary work) is eligible unless it has already received an INFORMS award.

See this page online for complete details: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/Doing-Good-with-Good-OR/Doing-Good-with-Good-OR-Application-Process.

INFORMS must receive completed submissions for this competition by May 15. The finalists will be announced by June 30, and the competition winner will be selected at the 2012 INFORMS Annual Meeting.

2012 Committee Co-Chairs: Sila Cetinkaya, Texas A&M University, Industrial Engineering Dept., College Station, TX 77843-313; e-mail: sila@tamu.edu; voice: +1 979-845-5535; fax: +1 979-847-9005; and Susan E. Martonosi, Harvey Mudd College, Department of Mathematics, 301 Platt Boulevard, Claremont, CA 91711; e-mail: martonosi@hmc.edu; voice: +1 909-607-0481.

INFORMS Undergraduate Operations Research Prize

The Undergraduate Operations Research Prize Competition is held each year to honor a student or group of students who conducted a significant applied project in operations research or management science, and/or original and important theoretical or applied research in operations research or management science, while enrolled as an undergraduate student. The prize is given each year at the INFORMS National Meeting if there is a suitable recipient.

To enter, eligible participants should submit a paper to the Committee chair (see below) by July 1. Full eligibility and submission guidelines can be found below. The prize of $500 plus travel support to the INFORMS Annual Meeting will be announced at the awards ceremony during the annual meeting. All entrants satisfying the eligibility requirements will be invited to present their research at an Undergraduate Research Showcase session(s) at the annual meeting.

The following conditions must be met for eligibility.

1. Entrants must submit a paper (can be previously published or unpublished) presenting original research results.
2. The entrants are defined to be any co-authors on the paper who were enrolled as undergraduate students for at least one term within the 12 months prior to the award submission deadline in the year the paper is submitted for consideration and who were undergraduate students at the time the project or research was conducted. The student(s) must have made a substantial contribution to the project and been the primary author(s) of the paper with only minor editorial assistance.
3. One or more faculty, graduate student or post-doctoral advisors may appear as co-authors of a paper, but at least one student entrant must be the first author.
4. A brief statement confirming the entrants’ eligibility and detailing the entrant’s contribution to the research should be submitted by the entrant’s research advisor or another faculty member familiar with the entrants’ work. To encourage cross-discipline submissions, the faculty advisor need not be an INFORMS member.
5. An entrant can be a (co-)author in at most one paper submitted to the competition.
6. The paper must not have won a prize in a previous year of this competition.

The paper must use double spacing, 11-point (or larger) font and 1 inch (or larger) margins (left, right, top, and bottom). The entire paper (including bibliography, appendices, figures, etc.) must not exceed 25 pages and, except for those containing references, each page should contain no more than 35 lines of text. Attached to the paper should be an abstract of the work, not to exceed 100 words. This abstract will be used in the program for the Undergraduate Research Showcase session of the INFORMS Annual Meeting.

The criteria for review include:

1. For applied projects: Is the work significant? Did it require the clever use of O.R. methodology, and did it create substantial value for the project sponsor?
2. For research: Is the research novel? For example, does it address a new problem (theoretical or applied) of interest to the broader O.R. community, does it present a novel solution or modeling approach to an established problem, or does it provide new insight into an important problem?
3. Does the student’s work demonstrate creativity and promise for future work in the field of operations research?
4. Writing quality: Is the writing coherent, fluid and adhering to a clear structure? Is the problem clearly explained and motivated? Is terminology clearly defined and notation consistent with accepted conventions?

Entries must be submitted by email to the committee chair by July 1.

See this page online for complete details: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/INFORMS-Undergraduate-Operations-Research-Prize/INFORMS-Undergraduate-Operations-Research-Prize-Application-Process.

2012 Committee Chair: Feryal Erhun, Stanford University, 335 Huang Engineering Center, Stanford, CA 94305; voice: +1 650-804-1630; fax: +1 650-723-1614; e-mail: ferhun@stanford.edu.

INFORMS Impact Prize

The INFORMS Impact Prize, awarded once every two years, is intended to recognize contributions that have had a broad impact on the field. The contribution could be an idea or technique that is widely used, or it could be someone who played a major role in bringing significant methodology into widespread use (e.g., by playing a major role in the design of a software package that is now widely used or through extensive writings and lectures aimed at practitioners). The award complements the Edelman Prize. Instead of focusing on a single large application with quantifiable impact, we are looking for ideas that are widely used. The award may go to some combination of the originator of the idea and/or the people or group who played a significant role in bringing the idea to a community who uses it.

Initial (brief) nominations are due by April 30.

For more information, visit: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes-Awards/INFORMS-Impact-Prize/INFORMS-Impact-Prize-Application-Process.

Wagner Prize

The Daniel H. Wagner Prize recognizes and rewards outstanding achievement in the practice of operations research or advanced analytics. The prize goes to professionals who create innovative analytical methods, utilize those methods in a verifiably successful O.R./analytics project and describe their work in a clear, well-written paper (not previously published).

Like the high-profile Edelman Award, the Wagner Prize is honored during the gala banquet and award ceremony at the spring analytics conference. Which suggests the question: What’s the difference between the Edelman Award and the Wagner Prize?

Close inspection reveals many similarities. Both awards recognize accomplishments in practice, in any type of client organization, large or small, U.S or international, public or private, involving any analytical method in any application field. Both competitions are conducted by means of presentations open to meeting attendees – the Edelman at the spring analytics conference and the Wagner at the fall annual meeting. Both have their competition presentations distributed widely through streaming video on the INFORMS Video Learning Center. Both get a special issue of Interfaces dedicated to publishing their competition papers.

The primary difference is in the judging criteria. The Edelman’s major criterion is large beneficial impact (absolute or relative) on a client organization. The Wagner’s main criterion is innovative analytical methods, typically in the mathematical modeling or the solution methodology. Both competitions seek innovative methods but this is paramount in the Wagner, not paramount in the Edelman.

Further, the Wagner Prize explicitly assigns great importance to clear exposition, as observed in the written paper and in the oral presentation. Finally, while the Edelman looks especially for large impact, the Wagner looks instead for proven impact but does not give weight to the size of the impact.

Applicants must submit a two-page abstract by May 1. Complete details on submittal requirements and timeline can be found under the Application Process tab at http://www.informs.org/wagnerprize.

The Wagner Prize is sponsored by CPMS – the Practice Section of INFORMS. It receives generous support from Daniel H. Wagner Associates, Inc., Metron, Inc. and Applied Mathematics, Inc.

For further information, contact Allen Butler, president, Daniel H. Wagner Associates, chair of the 2012 Wagner Prize Committee: allen.butler@va.wagner.com.

Bonder Scholarships

The Military Applications Society (MAS) of INFORMS is seeking nominations for the 2012 Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Military Applications. The purpose of this scholarship for applied O.R. in military applications is to promote the development and application of process modeling and operations research analysis to military issues. The scholarship provides funding to support the development of highly qualified individuals and promote the interchange of military O.R. research knowledge with INFORMS. The Bonder Scholarship consists of a grant of $4,000. In addition, the award winner will be eligible for up to $1,000 of travel funding.

Submit applications and letters of support as pdfs by June 1 to Patrick J. Driscoll (patrick.driscoll@usma.edu).
The Health Care Applications Society is seeking nominations for the 2012 Bonder Scholarship for Applied Operations Research in Health Services. Like the Bonder Scholarship in Military Applications, the scholarship is $4,000, with the opportunity to apply for an additional $1,000 travel grant.

Send applications and additional required material to Keith A. Willoughby (willoughby@edwards.usask.ca).

Additional information about both awards can be found visiting: http://www.informs.org/Recognize-Excellence/Community-Prizes-and-Awards.