INFORMS President-Elect Candidate: Stefan E. Karisch

Candidate Statement

INFORMS' strategic plan has set the path: better decision making for a just, prosperous, and sustainable world, and a bigger tent from which all of us can contribute. As a former academic, longtime practitioner, recently elected Fellow, and general chair of the 2024 INFORMS Annual Meeting, I have come to know our organization from different vantage points. Across all of them, one thread has held: our profession has its greatest impact when academic rigor and practical implementation reinforce one another. If elected, my work would focus on three priorities that I believe will shape how well we serve our members and our field over the next decade.

Stewardship of decision-making science. Two forces are reshaping the standing of our field at once. AI is transforming how research is produced, reviewed, and used, putting publication integrity, peer review, and authorship standards under pressure, which INFORMS journals must lead in addressing. At the same time, a shifting policy landscape is creating risks for research funding, academic careers, student pipelines, and the trust on which our science depends. These pressures meet at a single point: the credibility of decision-making science and INFORMS' role in protecting it. I would work with the Board and our editorial leadership to strengthen our advocacy work to defend that credibility, sustain global collaboration, and ensure INFORMS continues to be a respected, science-grounded voice across changing conditions.

A bigger tent that strengthens the core. A bigger tent and a stronger core are not competing objectives; they are the same objective, seen from two angles. Practice is where ideas become solutions. There, we build what works, demonstrate impact, inspire new research, attract new talent, and expand the reach of our field. The strategic plan's Big Tent approach recognizes this. Strengthening practitioner engagement, especially among early-career members, is one of the central commitments the plan asks of us. Meeting it strengthens INFORMS for everyone, because the institutional health that supports our journals, awards, and doctoral pipeline depends on a membership that grows. I would work to deepen academic-industry collaboration and broaden practitioner-relevant offerings alongside continued investment in the academic foundations that give our work its credibility. As the tent grows, the questions about what holds us together grow with it. That conversation is part of the work.

The next generation, globally. We shape INFORMS' future through every member we welcome: where they come from, what perspectives and experiences they bring, and whether they stay. Today's students will pursue careers in academia, in industry, or across the two — and INFORMS should serve them all. Mentorship, modernized engagement, and clearer routes from student to early-career to established professional matter. So does our global footprint: building on momentum at the INFORMS International Conferences and the planned Regional Conference pilots so that our presence reflects where our profession lives.

Personal commitment. If elected, my work would focus on accelerating what is already underway, with the clarity to know where to invest and the discipline to know where not to spread thin. We cannot do everything, and choosing well is part of stewardship. Being clear about who we are becoming sharpens the choices we make. I bring with me the experience of service across the Board, subdivisions, and committees; executive leadership in global companies including Jeppesen (recognized with the 2010 INFORMS Prize), Boeing, and Amazon; and the ability to translate between research and practice. I am honored to be nominated, and I look forward to continuing to serve INFORMS and the broader operations research and analytics community.

For more information, please visit: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefankarisch. 

Bio

Stefan Karisch is Founder and Principal of Intrinsic Clarity, a leadership and strategy advisory practice. After academic research, he joined industry in 1998 and has since held executive roles across aerospace and technology, including Amazon (Executive Director, Air Science & Technology), Boeing (Executive Director, Analytics), and Jeppesen, which he led to the 2010 INFORMS Prize.
Within INFORMS, Stefan served as General Chair of the 2024 Annual Meeting, Vice President Meetings on the INFORMS Roundtable (2019-2021), President of the Analytics Society (2017), and Vice President Chapters and Fora on the Board of Directors (2010-2011). He is an INFORMS Fellow (2025), AGIFORS Fellow (2025), and former AGIFORS President.

Stefan holds a Dr.techn. and Dipl.-Ing. (M.Eng.) in Mathematics (Graz University of Technology), and an M.Math in Operations Research (University of Waterloo). He believes the bridging of academic rigor and practical implementation is what makes our profession’s core stronger and its tent bigger.