INFORMS Announces 2026 Board of Directors Election Results

BALTIMORE, Oct. 6, 2026 – INFORMS, the world’s largest association for professionals and students in operations research (OR), AI, analytics and data science, announces the results of the 2026 election for the Board of Directors. These new members will begin their tenure on January 1, 2027. 

2026 Electees to the 2027 INFORMS Board of Directors: 

• President-Elect 

Sheldon H. Jacobson 

Sheldon H. Jacobson is the newly elected President-Elect of INFORMS. Jacobson, a Founder Professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, has been an INFORMS member since 1985 and has held numerous leadership roles in the organization, including Board of Directors treasurer and member of the Fellows Selection Committee. A recipient of the INFORMS George E. Kimball Medal, Impact Prize and President's Award, Jacobson has authored more than 210 peer-reviewed articles and 670 publications in outlets including in outlets such as the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune and The Hill. 

• Treasurer 

Banafsheh Behzad 

Banafsheh Behzad is the newly elected Treasurer of INFORMS. Behzad is chair and professor of information systems at the College of Business at California State University, Long Beach. An INFORMS member since 2010, she has chaired the INFORMS Professional Recognition Committee and served on the INFORMS Finance Committee, and previously served as president of Women in OR/MS. Behzad is a recipient of the INFORMS Moving Spirit for Forums Award and the President's Award for Outstanding Faculty Achievement at Cal State Long Beach. 

• Vice President of Education 

Rubén Proano 

Rubén A. Proano is the newly elected Vice President of Education at INFORMS. Proano is associate professor and graduate director in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Rochester Institute of Technology. An INFORMS member since 2007, he previously served as president of the Minority Issues Forum and currently serves on the Strategic Planning Committee. Proano is a 2025 Minority Issues Forum Fellow and an INFORMS Senior Member. 

• Vice President of Emerging Fields and Technologies 

David Shmoys 

David Shmoys is the newly elected Vice President of Emerging Fields and Technologies at INFORMS. Shmoys is the Laibe/Acheson Professor and director of the Center for Data Science for Enterprise & Society at Cornell University. An INFORMS member since 1995, he has served on the INFORMS AI Ad Hoc Committee and the NSF Liaison and U.S. Federal Research Engagement Committees. Shmoys is a recipient of the INFORMS Kimball Medal, Optimization Society Khachiyan Prize, Wagner Prize and Lanchester Prize, and was named an AAAS Fellow in 2024. 

• Vice President of Meetings 

Sandra D. Ekşioğlu 

Sandra D. Ekşioğlu is the newly elected Vice President of Meetings at INFORMS. Ekşioğlu is the Hefley Professor in Logistics and Entrepreneurship in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Arkansas. An INFORMS member since 1997, she has served as president of the Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment Section and chaired the Railway Applications Section. Ekşioğlu is an INFORMS Senior Member, IISE Fellow and recipient of the INFORMS Moving Spirit Award for Chapters. 

• Vice President of Publications 

Burak Kazaz 

Burak Kazaz is the newly elected Vice President of Publications at INFORMS. Kazaz is the Becker Professor of Supply Chain Management and director of the Brethen Institute at Syracuse University. An INFORMS member since 1995, he has served on the INFORMS Publication Committee since 2022 and chaired the Committee for AI Guidelines. Kazaz is a recipient of the MSOM Society Distinguished Award in 2026, the Wickham Skinner Prize and the INFORMS President's Pick for best publication. 

• Vice President of Sections and Societies 

John Hollywood 

John S. Hollywood is the newly elected VP of Sections and Societies. Hollywood is a senior operations researcher at the RAND Corporation and a past professor of classes on strategic management, systems engineering and predictive analytics at the RAND School of Public Policy. He previously directed the National Institute of Justice’s Information and Geospatial Technologies Center (operated by RAND under a cooperative agreement) and managed RAND’s Center for Quality Policing.  He is a long-time member of the INFORMS Subdivisions Council. Previously, he served as founding President of the INFORMS Public Programs & Processes Section (now part of the Public and Societal Operations Research Section), plus in several other section officer roles. 

The newly elected Board members will join the returning Board members, including: 

• Wedad Elmaghraby, President 

• Mark Lewis, Past-President 

• Pelin Pekgün, Secretary 

• Tinglong Dai, Vice President of Marketing, Communications and Outreach 

• Pooja Dewan, Vice President of Practice 

• Gina Galindo, Vice President of International Activities 

• Anahita Khojandi, Vice President of Membership and Professional Recognition 

• Les Servi, Vice President of Chapters and Forums 

• Elena Gerstmann, CEO & Executive Director 

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Contact: 

Rebecca Seel 

Public Affairs Specialist 

[email protected] 

443-757-3578