RENeW: It Takes a Great Student Chapter and Great Officers -- Another National Award from INFORMS

Saturday, October 29, 2011

It Takes a Great Student Chapter and Great Officers -- Another National Award from INFORMS

Photo taken of UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter panelists at the Northeast Regional INFORMS Conference at UMass Amherst, May 6-7, 2011 with Ms. Tracy Byrnes and Ms. Mary Magrogan of INFORMS

Group photo of chapter officers (present and some former ones) and some chapter members at the officer election in September 2011

I heard the great news as I was preparing for my seminar at McGill University on Montreal where I spoke yesterday.

The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter was selected for another national award from INFORMS (the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) and will be receiving the Magna Cum Laude Award plaque at a breakfast meeting at the upcoming INFORMS Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.

This is the fifth year in a row that this chapter has been recognized by an award from INFORMS and, as the Faculty Advisor to this chapter, I can attest to the energy, creativity, and hard work of its officers and members.

One of the high points last year was the chapter's involvement in the First Northeast Regional INFORMS Conference held at UMass Amherst, May 6-7, 2011. The students did an outstanding job acting as ambassadors, giving directions, posting up signs, helping with the projector technology, presenting papers, and holding a fabulous invited panel on How to Run a Successful INFORMS Student Chapter, the powerpoint, in pdf format can be downloaded here.

The official announcement of the great news came in an email message from Dr. Stefan Karisch, reprinted below, which identifies all the student chapters in the US that will be recognized.

Congratulations to the award-winning chapters, their hard-working officers, members, and Faculty Advisors! We look forward to celebrating with you next month at our annual meeting!

Dear Student Chapter Officers,

Congratulations! The Chapters/Fora Committee is delighted to notify you that your chapter is a winner of the INFORMS Student Chapter Annual Award at the level shown below. The purpose of these awards is to recognize the achievements of student chapters. The award will be presented at the Chapters/Fora Breakfast at the upcoming INFORMS Annual Meeting in Charlotte, NC. If you are at the meeting, we hope you will join us and be recognized at this event. It will be held on Tuesday, November 15 at 7:00 a.m. in the Westin Hotel, Grand C Ballroom. If you cannot attend, we will mail the award to you.

Thank you for your commitment to INFORMS student chapters!

Best regards,

Stefan Karisch

VP for Chapters/Fora

Summa Cum Laude

University of South Florida

Magna Cum Laude

University of Massachusetts

Texas A&M University

Oklahoma State University

Cum Laude

University of Houston