Michael Fu

Michael Fu is an exemplary academic when it comes to professional service – a model for young academics to emulate. He has served in numerous distinct and significant roles both within INFORMS and across the broader operations research community. He has served on numerous journal editorial boards for INFORMS journals (including the Operations Research Simulation Area Editor and the Management Science Stochastic Models and Simulation Department Editor). He has undertaken leadership roles for numerous INFORMS conferences, including serving as the general co-chair of the 2020 INFORMS Annual Meeting, cluster chair for the 2018 INFORMS International Conference, and program chair for the 2011 Winter Simulation Conference (WSC). He also served on the INFORMS Board of Directors from 2017-2018 as treasurer. He has provided tireless service to the broader INFORMS and international communities, including serving as the NSF Program Director for Operations Research. Michael’s altruistic character traits that permeate his personal life are the very same ones that have made him a valuable and dedicated contributor to INFORMS.

Professor Michael Fu is a very creative researcher who has extensively written for the INFORMS community during the last three decades. His 200+ writings primarily address the role of simulation in optimization methods. Building on his stellar research output, which has been recognized by five best paper or outstanding publication awards, Professor Fu has written numerous highly impactful expository tutorials.

For example, Professor Fu's 2002 INFORMS Journal on Computing article titled "Optimization for simulation: Theory vs. practice" provided the foundation for bringing together the two communities of optimization and simulation. It also addressed the question of connecting research to practice, specifically software. Due in no small part to Professor Fu's insights, every simulation software package today incorporates simulation optimization into their platform.

For his outstanding contributions to the INFORMS community, and skill at exposing to a general audience the tenets of modern optimization and simulation, Michael Fu richly deserves the Saul Gass Award.