Margery Connor

Title

Margery_Connor_crop_1

Chief Data & Analytics Officer, Chevron

Education

  • MS, Operations Research, UC Berkeley
  • BS, Systems Engineering, University of Virginia

Professional Experience

  • Chevron Corporation, 1987-Present

Insightful, results-driven operations research professional with 35+ years’ experience in the energy industry solving business problems, using a range of technologies including optimization, simulation, decision analysis, data science, and artificial intelligence. I have a solid track record of identifying the business challenge, framing the analytics problem, leveraging data, applying the appropriate modeling technique, gaining insights, and presenting results to senior management. Solutions have created significant value for Chevron. In 2013, I was recognized as a Chevron Fellow for my significant technical contributions to the company and the industry. After beginning my career as an operations research analyst, I have had jobs with increasing responsibility, rising to Chevron’s Chief Data & Analytics Officer early in 2024.

  • US Sprint, 1984-1987

Selected INFORMS and Related Activities (Member since 1995)

  • Chevron’s representative on the INFORMS Roundtable, 2011-Present
  • INFORMS Roundtable board for 7 years, serving as Treasurer, President-Elect, President, Past President, and Secretary
  • Treasurer for INFORMS Analytics Society for 2 years
  • Chair of the Women in Operations Research - Bayer Scholarship in 2018 and 2019. Note: Scholarship is on hold due to budget constraints at Bayer.
  • Co-chaired Business of Data, an INFORMS conference on big data held June 2014 in San Jose, CA
  • Assisted in writing second round of questions for Certified Analytics Professional (CAP) exam
  • Practice Strategy Committee Member, 2025-Present
  • INFORMS Mentor, 2025-Present
  • Membership Committee member, 2025-Present

Selected Professional Honors and Awards

  • Edelman Laureate, 2013
  • Chevron Fellow, 2013
  • INFORMS Prize winner (Chevron), 2015
  • Women Leaders in Data and AI, 2021 Corporate Champion
  • Recognized by CDO, Top 50 Changemakers in Energy, 2025

Selected Publications

  • Interfaces, “Optimizing Chevron’s Refineries,” January 2014

Candidate Statement

I see several major issues in this changing world that are opportunities for INFORMS to make a meaningful difference:

  • The world is facing enormous challenges, from food and housing insecurity to global warming.
  • The employment commitment is changing; few people will work decades for the same company as I have. People will need to find other options for long-term mentoring and career development. Professional societies need to step up.

INFORMS can play a critical role in addressing these problems. Success will depend on a healthy influx and engagement of members and collaboration between practitioners and academic members.

As VP of Practice, I will help INFORMS address these challenges in several ways.

Academics and practitioners are closely connected and could benefit from working more closely together. Practitioners bring challenging business problems to solve while academics’ research help deliver solutions. Strengthening the bridge between practitioners and academics – leveraging the Committee on Industry-Academia Collaborations – will make INFORMS stronger and enable us to address the challenges shared above. This is clearly a case of 1 + 1 > 2. Proposals include:

  • Highlighting examples of programs in which companies and universities work together on graduate degrees that train students while solving companies’ real-world challenges would help others leverage such connections.
  • Working with university chapters/departments to systematically schedule local practitioners to present to students. “Word of mouth” to establish these connections has limited impact.

In addition to recruiting individuals, I suggest we develop a plan for engaging companies, government agencies, and academic departments so they understand and support the value of INFORMS membership for their employees and students. Advertising the power of the INFORMS brand will boost membership and engagement. I have seen this firsthand in my career:

  • At Chevron, we leverage the CAP Job Task Analysis to standardize the process of developing and deploying advanced analytics models. Earmarking the process as an INFORMS standard has brought significant credibility to our work.
  • Chevron was a finalist for the Franz Edelman Award in 2013; we were awarded the INFORMS Prize in 2015. This external recognition validated our work and provided us with internal recognition.

Understanding the evolving role of professional societies is critical to enhancing the value INFORMS provides. This will help determine how best to fill the gap employers will leave as the long-term employment contract wanes in industry and government jobs.

The benefits of INFORMS membership change over the course of a career. Being more targeted in recruiting at different phases of careers could boost membership and make involvement more fruitful; think direct and targeted marketing.

  • University students benefit from INFORMS chapters by meeting other students and professors at periodic technical presentations. INFORMS conferences offer the opportunity to showcase their work and meet potential employers.
  • Early-career members benefit by attending INFORMS conferences to learn about O.R. applications and research. The Early Career Professionals’ Network (ECPN) enhances their experiences. Early in my career, I was active in the Bay Area chapter; listening to how other local companies solved challenges really helped me.
  • The INFORMS Roundtable enhanced my experience as a mid-career practitioner. Networking helped me tackle challenges at work.
  • Volunteering is a boost throughout one’s career. I suggest targeted recruiting of recently retired INFORMS members to help with these efforts could be a win.

I have the passion and energy to tackle this position and support INFORMS’ objective to enable “Smarter Decisions for a Better World.” I am planning to wind down my day-to-day responsibilities at Chevron, which will afford me ample time to apply the wisdom I have acquired from a long and successful career to assist INFORMS in serving the practice community.

For more information, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/margery-connor-2126ba27