2025 Winner(s)
Dr. Les Servi has provided sustained and distinguished service to both INFORMS and the profession for over four decades. He has held a number of key roles within INFORMS, including six years on the Board of Directors, chairing four subdivisions, serving as an associate editor for three INFORMS journals, leading the Fellows Selection Committee, and presenting as a plenary speaker at the 2023 INFORMS Annual Meeting. Notable contributions include founding of the Social Media Analytics Section, helping to establish the Telecommunications and Network Analytics Section, and aiding transformative initiatives as INFORMS treasurer. Beyond INFORMS, he has served the O.R. profession as the chief scientist of Cyber Operations Research at The MITRE Corporation, president of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), is co-chair of the Worcester Polytechnic Institutes's Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Executive Advisory Board, and was an active participant on the Defense Science Board. He has also demonstrated a commitment to mentoring the next generation, particularly from low-income backgrounds. For his outstanding record of service to INFORMS and the profession, INFORMS is pleased to award the George E. Kimball Medal to Les Servi.
2025 Winner(s)
- Brian T. Denton, University of Michigan
Professor Brian Denton has provided exemplary service to INFORMS and the profession in a multitude of roles. As president, from 2016 to 2018, he oversaw the development of the INFORMS Ethics Guidelines; creation of a new diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative; implementation of a new undergraduate student scholarship program; and the launch of two new journals: Stochastic Systems and the INFORMS Journal on Optimization. As secretary, he oversaw the transition of the
board from an operational to a strategic planning board and designed a new on-boarding orientation for new board members. In addition, his contributions include member and chair of the Franz Edelman Award Committee (2006-2007); secretary, VP, and chair of the Health Applications Society (2010); member of the INFORMS Subdivisions Council (2010-2011); and program chair of the 2011 INFORMS Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC. He has served on the editorial boards of Operations Research, INFORMS Journal on Optimization, M&SOM, Interfaces, and Service Science. He also served as chair of the Industrial and Operations Engineering Department at the University of Michigan (2018-2023). For his outstanding record of service to INFORMS and the profession, INFORMS is pleased to award the George E. Kimball Medal to Brian Denton.
Purpose of the Award
Committee Chair
The George E. Kimball Medal is awarded for recognition of distinguished service to the Institute and to the profession of operations research and the management sciences. The award is a medallion and a certificate.
2025 Submission Deadline: May 15, 2025
Click here to begin a submission
Prior to the creation of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) by the merger of the Operations Research Society of America (ORSA) and The Institute of Management Sciences (TIMS), the Kimball Medal was an ORSA Prize. TIMS had a similar prize, the TIMS' Distinguished Service Medal. The winners of this prize are included in the list below.
Application Process
Nominations are provided within the INFORMS award submission software. Nomination materials needed during the submission process include Nomination Letter (outlining the scope of service to INFORMS), Nominee’s CV, and draft citation of merit. Self-nominations are welcome.
About the Award/Namesake
Born in Chicago in 1906, Kimball received his bachelor's degree in quantum chemistry from Princeton University in 1928. He returned there to do his graduate work under Hugh Taylor, and pursue more chemistry, physics and mathematics. He received a National Research Fellowship in chemistry and spent from 1933-1935 at MIT. In 1942, Philip Morse organized a Navy group to analyze antisubmarine tactics, and Kimball was one of the first persons recruited. Within the year he became Deputy Director of the group, called the Operations Research Group (ORG) during the war, later called the Operations Evaluation Group, U.S.N...