About two years ago, the program committee of the Pittsburgh INFORMS annual meeting issued us a challenge: Organize a special track of four or five sessions in which the speakers would address the “Great Unsolved Problems in O.R.” We were given full freedom as to how we defined such problems and selection of speakers. Our task was twofold: Define and delimit the set of such problems (to which we gave the acronym GUPOR), and then find the best speaker to address each problem.
Volume 34, Number 1, February 2007
FEATURE ARTICLES
DIGITAL EDITION
DEPARTMENTS 
Inside Story
Unsolved Mysteries
Many years ago, when I was first introduced to the term “operations research,” I recall someone telling me at an ORSA/TIMS meeting (or was it TIMS/ORSA?) that O.R. was doomed. The doomsday theory went something like this: All the really good operations research problems have already been solved, leaving modern-day O.R. whiz kids nothing but toy problems to tinker with. In the absence of important problems to work on and solve, the theory continued, operations research would simply wither away and die.
President's Desk
Beef Up O.R.’s Web Presence
Congratulations, Time magazine has named you Person of the Year. Actually, they’ve named all of us Person of the Year, in recognition of individual activity on the Internet resulting in “community and collaboration on a scale never seen before.” As I pondered this choice,I reflected on our community, INFORMS, and the implications of the trends in blogging, content creation and social computing on the future of our work.
Was It Something I Said
Netflix Prize Poses Poseidon-like Problem
Have you heard about the Netflix Prize? As you may know, Netflix is a company that ships DVDs to its customers’ homes. Customers manage their own request lists and preferences via the Web, where Netflix’ proprietary recommendation system makes personalized movie suggestions based on previous film rental experience.
INFORMS Online
Where Do We Go From Here?
I am the new INFORMS Online (IoL) editor in chief following two terms by Matthew Saltzman, who, thankfully has stayed on to help me settle in. IoL – not just the Web site but also the organization of professionals behind it – has been up and running for a decade or so thanks to founding editor Mike Trick and to Matt. I see my task as editor in chief as being twofold: (1) figure out where IoL should be in the coming years to better meet INFORMS’goals, and (2) take it there.
Viewpoint
Analyzing Decisions to Counter Terrorism
As the defining issue of his presidency, the decision to invade Iraq is without question the most important event of George W. Bush’s political career. Had he used decision analysis in making this momentous choice, as proposed in “Should the U.S. Have Attacked Iraq” (OR/MS Today, December 2006), perhaps the process would have been more systematic, and perhaps Bush would have found a way to retain public support for his eventual choice. But had he used decision analysis, I hope that Bush would have gone well beyond exploration of the odds that Iraq did or did not possess weapons of mass destruction (WMD), for the success or failure of the mission should certainly not be judged by this question.
ORacle
The Basketball Coach’s Parable
In the large, wood-paneled finished basement of a handsome suburban house, the party was progressing cheerfully. Chips, dips and other munchies were disappearing into smiling faces, along with an assortment of beverages. So far,at least,none of the refreshments had found their way to the attractive and fairly new carpet. On the big-screen TV at one end of the room, all who were still interested could easily watch the college playoff basketball game that happened to be the announced occasion for the party.