Mission Award, CHHS honors

An article co-authored by Scott Nestler and David Hunt, both longtime and active members of INFORMS, was named a winner of the Mission Award from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame. The article, “Using INFORMS ethics guidelines in the classroom,” appeared in the February 2017 issue of OR/MS Today (the INFORMS membership magazine). The Mission Award recognizes one or more Notre Dame faculty members for a specific research work that contributes to the common good.

Scott Nestler

Nestler, CAP, is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Information Technology, Analytics and Operations (ITAO) with the Mendoza College of Business at Notre Dame. Hunt is an engagement manager at Oliver Wyman who chaired the INFORMS Ad Hoc Committee on Ethical Guidelines.

The citation read in part: “Scott Nestler and colleague David Hunt describe how the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) and its ethics guidelines can be used in the classroom. Their work stems from their involvement with the creation of the INFORMS Ethics in O.R. & Analytics Group, which is meant to bring awareness to and the promotion of issues of ethics in operations research and analytics.”

David Hunt

The citation also included the following excerpt: “Work done by members of INFORMS increasingly impacts peoples’ lives as the use of our algorithms and models spreads and as data collection becomes more detailed and more personal. Yet too often we become absorbed by the elegance of our models and research, failing to consider any potential ethical implications. Or, we find ourselves faced with a situation that seems unethical and are forced to determine the best course of action without previously having established exactly what we consider to be ethical. INFORMS recently approved a set of ethical guidelines ‘intended to be aspirational, something members should attempt to follow throughout their career.’ The guidelines are organized around our responsibilities to society, to the organization where or for whom we work, and to the profession of operations research. The guidelines include 18 topics, ranging from ‘accountable’ to ‘rigorous’ to ‘tolerant,’ with each topic accompanied by a brief description to provide aspirational guidance without defining an exact course of action.”

Nestler and Hall’s article was one of five articles – one for each of Mendoza’s five departments – cited by Associate Dean Ken Kelley.

Georgia Tech presents Professional Education Award

Pinar Keskinocak, director of Georgia Tech’s Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHHS), has been selected for the Outstanding Professional Education Award. The awards committee recognized her leadership of the CHHS and her efforts to promote health and humanitarian services through the certificate program for Health and Humanitarian Supply Chain Management (HHSCM).

Pinar Keskinocak

Keskinocak, a longtime and active member of INFORM, acknowledged CHHS co-founders and former co-directors Ozlem Ergun and Julie Swann as honorary co-recipients of this award. The award presentation took place at the 2018 Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon on April 11.

Keskinocak donated the award prize as a “seed gift” toward creating a permanent endowment in support of CHHS.

The Health and Humanitarian Supply Chain Management professional education certificate program is designed for practitioners who are active participants or interested in health and humanitarian systems. The goal of the program is to enhance the knowledge and experience of participants on a broad range of topics including healthcare delivery, health systems strengthening, and adverse events preparedness and response. Courses include many interactive components, which help professionals link the challenges and decision-making tradeoffs they face in everyday practice with systematic solution approaches, tools and techniques.

Turgay Ayer and Dave Goldsman, two more Georgia Tech professors and longtime INFORMS members, were named research directors for the CHHS.

Dave Goldsman

Ayer is the George Family Foundation Early Career professor and an assistant professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE). Ayer also holds a courtesy appointment at the Emory School of Medicine. Ayer conducts research on healthcare analytics, with applications in predictive and prescriptive health, business intelligence, healthcare operations, payment reforms and health policy.

Turgay Ayer

A professor in ISyE, Goldsman’s research interests are in the area of computer simulation and applied statistics. He has extensive experience in modeling healthcare delivery systems for performance improvement, as well as working with public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.