Beril Toktay
Professor of Operations Management and Brady Family Chair
Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology
Biographical Profile
Education
- Ph.D., Operations Research, MIT (1998)
- M.S., Industrial Engineering, Purdue University (1994)
- B.S., Industrial Engineering, Boğaziçi University (1992)
Professional Experience
- Georgia Institute of Technology (2005-present)
- Harvard Business School: Visiting Scholar (2014-2015)
- INSEAD (1998-2005)
INFORMS Activities
- VP of Marketing, Communications and Outreach (Jan. 1, 2020-present)
- Department Editor, Health, Environment and Society, M&SOM (Jan. 1, 2021-present)
- Area Editor, Environment, Energy and Sustainability, Operations Research (2012-2017)
- President, MSOM Society
- Co-editor, Management Science Special Issue on Business and Climate Change
- Co-editor, M&SOM Special Issue on the Environment
- Associate Editor, M&SOM, Management Science, Operations Research
Publications
30+ publications in Management Science, M&SOM, Operations Research and Production and Operations Management
Professional Awards and Honors
- 2021 M&SOM Best Paper Award
- 2015 Management Science Best Paper in Operations Management Award
- 2017 MSOM Distinguished Fellow
- 2018 MSOM Distinguished Service Award
Vision Statement
I am honored to be nominated for the INFORMS VP of Marketing, Communications & Outreach (MCO) position. It’s an exciting time for our profession – the opportunity to have impact through operations research (O.R.), management science and analytics is greater than ever. Both private and public sector organizations will have more impact if they fully recognize that our community brings foundational tools and methods for decision-making and engage even more deeply with our members through research-based collaborations, continuing education and student recruitment.
The MCO area has the opportunity to contribute to the achievement of all of INFORMS’ external-facing goals: advance the science and technology of decision-making and elevate its impact; champion our profession and our brand; enhance member value and experience; and advance diversity, equity and inclusion in all we do.
A key priority in my first term as VP MCO was to engage closely with the INFORMS Advocacy initiative in contributing to these goals. This initiative is a dedicated effort to raise awareness and interest in the application of O.R. and analytics and how that serves the public interest in policymaking, governmental operations, or returns on research investment in these fields. It is supported by a DC-based public affairs and government relations firm working with the INFORMS director of marketing and public affairs. This initiative achieved early successes in influencing bill language, obtaining COVID-19-focused press coverage and engaging INFORMS members in briefings with policymakers. We have now formed an Advocacy Governance Committee to help strengthen connections to INFORMS expertise areas and further elevate their impact. This committee identified three priorities that we will execute over the next two years: creating more ways to engage members with federal agencies; better engaging the technical audiences in federal agencies to raise awareness and interest in INFORMS as a means of supporting growth in this membership segment; and expanding INFORMS member engagement with the advocacy effort. Another of my priorities in this area will be identifying the best way to transition the advocacy effort from an initiative to a continuing, appropriately-scoped activity of INFORMS.
Over the last year, I collaborated with the INFORMS president on a pilot to nominate INFORMS members to National Academies committees. Based on early successes, we plan to identify mechanisms to transition this to be a more permanent activity for INFORMS and identify other ways to project INFORMS thought leadership to national audiences.
I would like to recognize the excellent work of the Pro Bono Analytics Committee, which offers a platform for INFORMS members to volunteer their skills to bring advanced analytics and O.R. techniques to nonprofit organizations that may lack these skills internally and/or the resources to acquire these skills. I’m excited to continue to support their work in this high-impact area. Similarly, I am excited about the engagement of the marketing and communications team with the DEI Ambassadors Program. I will continue to support the integration of this initiative into a continuing activity of INFORMS that is well-seconded by the MCO team.
It has been an honor and privilege to work with talented INFORMS leadership and staff and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a nominee for a second term in this role.