Arthur M. Geoffrion

Arthur M. Geoffrion has earned high distinction in the world of operations research and the management sciences. He made important contributions to our knowledge. He became a leader and a role model. And he served our profession well as President of INFORMS during a formative period, when he set a lofty standard by inspiring other INFORMS activists to pursue productive new directions and by giving his caring time and attention in abundance.

After receiving BME and MIE degrees at Cornell, Art earned was awarded the PhD in operations research from Stanford in 1965. He then joined UCLA’s Anderson Graduate School of Management, where he chaired the management science program and ultimately became James A. Collins Professor of Management. His research resulted in more than 60 published works. Specializing initially in optimization and its applications, he later developed the structured modeling formalism to improve model building. He took an early lead in anticipating the rise of the Internet and e-commerce, e-commerce, and in charting the associated role of OR/MS. For his many achievements, he was awarded a NATO System Science Prize, named a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and designated a Fellow of the International Academy of Management, and named a member of the National Academy of Engineering. Over the years he has been a consultant to government and business. He co-founded the management-consulting firm, INSIGHT, Inc.

Early in his career, Art served on several ORSA and TIMS committees, and assumed a departmental editorship for our journal Management Science. He was elected President of TIMS, serving in 1982. In 1983 he founded the TIMS Management Science Roundtable of organizational members, now the INFORMS Roundtable, where he continues as its webmaster and member of their Executive Committee. In 1992 he became the fourth person in history to receive the TIMS Distinguished Service Medal. Subsequently, he was elected the third Elected President of INFORMS, serving in 1997. His comprehensive vision for the future of INFORMS and OR/MS, underscored by his themes "the shared destiny of academia and practice, the Webification of INFORMS, and improving the improved partnership between staff and volunteers put the whole team on the field," instilled enthusiasm and energy in board members and other active volunteers and helped the Institute move from its it’s focus on blending the ORSA and TIMS heritages to a focus on discovering and implementing better ways to advance the profession.

For Arthur Geoffrion's his most distinguished service to the profession and to the Society, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences expresses its profound appreciation by awarding him the George E. Kimball Medal.