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Businesses in every sector are facing new challenges in managing and analyzing data, which requires a specific approach and unique set of quantitative skills. The Institute for Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS) defines this specific approach as business analytics that facilitate the understanding of business objectives through reporting of data to analyze trends, creating predictive models for forecasting and optimizing business processes for enhanced performance. The Information Systems and Operations Management department in the Cameron School of Business is soon introducing a new concentration in business analytics as a response to the increasing demand from industries for students with the knowledge and skills in this area.

Anna Nagurney, the John F. Smith Memorial Professor of Operations Management at the Isenberg School of Management, received the inaugural Distinguished Service Award from the Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) at the society's annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 16. The award was established to recognize INFORMS members who have given their time and expertise to serve the community of INFORMS, the largest society for professionals in operations research, management science, and analytics.

Robert Phillips, founder of Nomis Solutions, a software company that applies cutting edge approaches to big data, advanced modeling, and deep analytics, was awarded the INFORMS Impact Prize. This award is presented every other year to individuals whose contributions include either an idea or technique that is widely used or a widespread methodology. 

The Information Systems Society of INFORMS presented its 2016 Distinguished Fellow Award was presented to Yong Tan, the Neal and Jan Dempsey Professor of Information Systems at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. This award recognize individuals who have made outstanding intellectual contributions to the information systems discipline.

Three Penn State industrial engineering graduate students, along with a recent industrial engineering alumnus, were named awardees of the prestigious Koopman Prize by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The prize, named after Bernard Koopman, a founding father of military operations research, is awarded annually to recognize outstanding publications in military operations research.