Volume 34, Number 4, August 2007

FEATURE ARTICLES

Measuring Success in 21st

IN 1994, IN AN INFORMS PANEL DISCUSSION, Dave Haut, then chief of the Analysis Division for the Department of Defense’s Pacific Command, asked the question,“Suppose there are problems in country X and the ambassador has the choice of having a carrier battle group sail down the country’s coastline in a show of force or playing golf with the country’s prime minister; how does he decide which will be more effective?”
- Dean S. Hartley III
It’s More Than a Job or an Adventure

Some people think of the Naval Postgraduate School as one of the nation’s best-kept secrets. In the operations research world, NPS has a fairly large footprint, but still there are members of INFORMS who might not know much about NPS-OR.
Marketing the Profession – to Our Students

The INFORMS marketing the profession (the “Science of Better”) initiative is attempting to make senior executives more aware of operations research (O.R.). Senior executives are a key audience and building awareness with them is important to O.R., but reaching this audience is difficult and expensive. Another audience that is important to the future of O.R. is students taking O.R. courses. Some of these, particularly “fasttrack” MBA students, could be using O.R. and have budget to hire O.R. practitioners in just a couple of years. Others might go on to work in the O.R. field or end up in public or private sector positions where they might recognize the value of O.R. work or manage O.R. projects. Others will likely end up in INFORMS target group of C-level executives.
- Peter C. Bell
O.R. in the Classroom – Get Real!

I have been a Woolseyian for a long time now. For the uninitiated, Gene Woolsey, professor emeritus at the Colorado School of Mines, has been the self-proclaimed “principal gadfly of the OR/MS profession” for many years. While I haven’t attended any INFORMS meetings wearing a safari outfit, don’t have a mustache and haven’t given out any diamond pins (I have three daughters to get through college – and then there will likely be some weddings to fund), I have tried to follow Gene’s teaching on having my students solve real problems. After 23 years of teaching, I am thoroughly convinced that it gives my students an edge when seeking employment and makes them better O.R. practitioners.
O.R. in the Jesuit Tradition

This year marks my 20-year anniversary at Le Moyne College, a liberal arts Jesuit university in Syracuse, N.Y. Le Moyne is one of 28 sister institutions in the United States and more than 100 Jesuit universities worldwide. When I accepted the offer to join the faculty at Le Moyne, upon the completion of my Ph.D. at the University of Florida (Go Gators!), I was asked by many of my professors and fellow doctoral students, "What is O.R. doing in a Jesuit institution?" At the time it seemed like a rhetorical question that I handled with a dismissive response like "that's a good question!" or "I suppose I'll find out!" How could that possibly be of any concern when I had real transition issues on my mind, like six feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures!
- Salwa Ammar
Teaching vs. the Real World

When I first returned to academia from industry I had great enthusiasm for my new career. Frankly, I also felt a significant amount of relief at getting out of the start-up company lifestyle, and felt that university life would be more conducive to family life.
- Vijay Mehrotra

DIGITAL EDITION

DEPARTMENTS

Inside Story

Those Who Can, Teach

Peter Horner

“Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach.” George Bernard Shaw, the famed Irish playwright, is widely credited with crafting some variation of that notoriously contemptuous phrase (OK, it’s clever on a certain level) more than 100 years ago. Isn’t it ironic, then, that George Bernard Dantzig – the “Father of Linear Programming,” an almost mythical O.R. researcher and educator and a man who literally changed the way the “real world” runs its business through his research and his legacy of students – was named after Shaw?

President's Desk

Solving the Meeting Conflict Problem

Brenda Dietrich

As I write this column, I’m preparing to leave for the INFORMS international meeting in Puerto Rico (July 8-11). The meeting was scheduled two years ago. I’m looking forward to interesting technical talks, scenic receptions and the opportunity to see old friends and meet new members of INFORMS.

Issues in Education

Designing, Selling a Hybrid Course

Patrick S. Noonan

In a previous column (“Your Next Teaching Vehicle May be a Hybrid,”OR/MS Today, June, 2007), we considered some of the persistent challenges we face in finding a sustainable home in the MBA environment, most notably the intense competition for scarce space in the MBA core. In many schools this has led to a one-course solution for all the “quant foundations.”

INFORMS Online

Expectations vs. Complexity

ManMohan Sodhi

INFORMS Online (IoL) has been greatly successful in the past. However, expectations are growing as users interact with other Web sites while our ability to deliver is constrained by organizational and technological complexity.

Forum

Scientists Tailor-Made for Today’s World

Andrew Boyd

Rumor is that Las Vegas won’t have them any more. As a group they don’t gamble enough. When they do gamble, they don’t lose enough money. When they play Blackjack, one of the few games where a player can actually turn the odds against the house, pit bosses watch warily for any of the telltale signs that they’re mercilessly taking advantage of an irregular run of cards.

Viewpoint

Look Before You Leap Into Ph.D.

Manos Hatzakis

So you’re thinking of pursuing a Ph.D. in O.R.? The first and most important step in the process of making this life decision is to look inward and have a candid conversation with yourself. Is this what you really want to do, and not what others want you to want, i.e., your teachers, parents, friends and classmates? Do not let peer pressure dictate your decision; you, not they, will have to live with it.

Roundtable Profile

What a Wonderful (MIT) World

Thank you, Laurie Everett and Dick Larson, for the article on MIT World that appeared in the April issue of OR/MS Today (“MIT World: See It Now,” pp. 48-51). The information was incredibly valuable, and I am certain that many of us in the profession, whether academicians, students or practitioners, will take regular advantage of this fantastic resource!