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Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in the Pr...

Daniel H. Wagner Prize for Excellence in the Practice of Advanced Analytics and Operations Research

Submission Deadline Extended to May 15, 2025

2025 Winner(s)

Ziyuan Zhou,, George Washington University
Long He, George Washington University
Zhengling Qi, George Washington University
Guangrui Ma, Meituan Group
Yuanbo Peng, Meituan Group
Yushu Yao, Meituan Group
Zhongyi Zha, Meituan Group
Mingyong Zhao, Meituan Group
Zhenyu Zhuo, Meituan Group

Winning material: Rebalancing and Clearance Pricing of Near-Expiry Inventory in Online Grocery Retail

Purpose of the Award

This award was established by a generous endowment from the firms: Metron, Inc., Daniel H. Wagner, Associates, Inc., and Applied Mathematics, Inc. in memory of the late Daniel H. Wagner.

The competition is held each year in the fall at the INFORMS Annual Meeting.

Learn More About Applying for the Wagner Award!

2023-2024 Committee Chair

Konstantina Mellou
Microsoft

View full committee

This prize emphasizes the quality and coherence of the analysis used in practice. Dr. Wagner strove for strong mathematics applied to practical problems, supported by clear and intelligible writing. This prize recognizes those principles by emphasizing good writing, strong analytical content, and verifiable practice successes.

The award will consist of a cash amount from endowments, to be determined each year by the board of The Practice Section, and citation plaque giving the authors’ names and a summary or title of the work. The prize amount is $5,000. Upon satisfactory submission of a paper acceptable to the editor(s) designated by The Practice Section, the winning team will receive the cash award, divided as requested, plus certificates and winners' plaques; all other finalists will receive certificates.

View Presentations of the Wagner Prize Contestants

Use these outstanding presentations from the competition of verifiable practice success in the classroom or to apply lessons learned to your own organization.

Comparison Between the Wagner Prize and the Edelman Award

Both the Daniel H. Wagner Prize and the Franz Edelman Award reward the use of operations research, analytics and mathematics in practice. However, the Wagner prize emphasizes clear, well-written papers and innovative mathematics over quantitative benefits. There are several differences between the Wagner and the Edelman competitions.

Most importantly, the Edelman competition is designed to honor the use of operations research and analytics by organizations, and the prize is awarded to an organization. The Daniel H. Wagner Prize is awarded to the authors.
Secondly, the Edelman Award judges consider the impact of the work very strongly. Conversely, the Daniel H. Wagner Prize does not explicitly consider impact, but instead looks at success. From that standpoint a small but very successful application could easily win the Wagner Prize, but would be very unlikely even to become a finalist in the Edelman competition.
Next, the in-person presentation for the Edelman is very important. INFORMS records the sessions to create media for teaching and publicity and so most contestant organizations devote considerable resources to create complicated, multi-media presentations. The Wagner competition only requires an articulate presentation, and the judges evaluate the presentation only as part of the entry and on the basis of clarity and completeness.
Finally, the Prize is smaller. The current award amount for the Daniel H. Wagner Prize is $5,000. INFORMS has invested the endowment fund, and the fund is growing. We expect the prize amount to grow concomitantly.

Full Wagner Prize Papers are in INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (formerly Interfaces)

The September/October issue of INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics (formerly Interfaces) each year is the Wagner Prize Special Issue. Read these inspiring accounts of verifiable practice success.

Application Process

View information about eligibility, procedures and deadlines
Click here for more information

About the Award/Namesake

Dan Wagner earned his Ph.D. in mathematics from Brown University in 1951. His dissertation, "On Free Products of Groups" was published in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society in 1957. Dr. Wagner joined the Navy's Operations Evaluation Group (OEG) at the Pentagon, working on operations research for naval warfare. He worked there until 1956, with a one-year leave of absence for postdoctoral research on free algebras at MIT...

Learn more about Daniel H. Wagner

This award is administered by the Practice Section of INFORMS. To learn more about the section and how to become a member, visit their website here.

Past Awardees

2025

Winner(s)

Long He, George Washington University

Guangrui Ma, Meituan Group

Yuanbo Peng, Meituan Group

Zhengling Qi, George Washington University

Yushu Yao, Meituan Group

Zhongyi Zha, Meituan Group

Mingyong Zhao, Meituan Group

Ziyuan Zhou,, George Washington University

Zhenyu Zhuo, Meituan Group

2000

Winner(s)

Dennis Dietz, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

Amie Elcan, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

Paul Katz, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

Jim Koehler, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

John Shortle, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

Craig Williamson, Qwest (formerly U S WEST) Advanced Technologies, Boulder, Colorado.

Finalist

Melinda Hobbs, Energy Information Administration

Major Jeffrey L. Huisingh, Assistant Professor, US Army , 34th Education Squadron, United States Air Force Academy

Michael Mellish, Energy Information Administration

Frederic H. Murphy, School of Business and Management, Temple University

Richard Newcombe, Energy Information Administration

Major Randy Zimmerman, Ph.D., Operations Research Analyst, US Army TRADOC Analysis Center- Fort Leavenworth

Reginald Sanders, OnLocation

Peter Whitman, Pace International

Harold Yamauchi, Operations Research Analyst, Rolands and Associates