Congratulations to the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter on its Magna Cum Laude Award!

The recent INFORMS Annual Meeting, which took place in San Francisco, November 1-4, 2026 was outstanding.

One of the highlights was that the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, on November 2, at a lovely ceremony, was recognized for its activities in the 2025-2026 year with the Magna Cum Laude Award. I have had the honor and pleasure of serving as this chapter's Faculty Advisor since its inception in 2004.

Many of our Chapter officers from the past year and this year: Samira Samadi, Josh Gladstone, Semih Boz, Solmaz Abbaspour, Yukti Kathuria, Sindhoora Prakash, and Yongdong Chen, and chapter members, including Kelvin Ekun, traveled 3,000 miles to this conference and were able to join us at the reception and ceremony, which included remarks by INFORMS Executive Director Elena Gerstmann, PhD, FASAE, CAE, INFORMS President-Elect Wedad Elmaghraby, and Les Servi, INFORMS Vice President for Chapters and Forums, with keynote speaker Zihan Zhang. 

The Riccio College of Engineering at UMass Amherst posted this nice article on the Chapter's Award: https://www.umass.edu/engineering/news/informs-magna-cum-laude-award

This student chapter is a wonderful collaboration between the Isenberg School of Management and the Riccio College of Engineering.

Congratulations to all the INFORMS Student Chapters that were recognized last evening and keep up the great work!

The Sustainability Symposium at UC Berkeley was Outstanding!

On October 31, 2026, I took part in the Symposium on Environmental and Social Sustainability in Supply Chains at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business.  I congratulate and thank Professors Sytske Wijnsma, Candace Yano, Luyi Yang, and Owen Wu for a very engaging, timely event. It was a pleasure to be invited to speak on: "Trade Policy, Labor, and Climate Disruptions in Global Supply Chain Networks," and to be on a panel on OM Sustainability Research, along with  Dean Vishal Gaur, and Professor Jan Fransoo, with expert moderation by Owen Wu. 

Thanks to Professor Sadan Kulturel-Konak for taking some photos and also to Yongdong Chen, who is a PhD student in Operations Management at the Isenberg School of Management, UMass Amherst. It was great to reconnect with colleagues and to meet new ones. The venue was lovely. 

Our Latest Research on Food Security, Supply Chains, and International Trade is Published!

I am delighted that the paper, "Multicommodity Trade Network Equilibrium with Mixed Demand and Food Security," co-authored with Dana Hassani, one of my Isenberg School PhD students in Operations Management, has now been published in the journal Networks. This journal has only about a 5% acceptance rate. We are grateful to the reviewers and to the Editors that handled our paper for their constructive comments and suggestions.

More information on our paper can be found on the journal's website: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/net.70081 This is Dana's fifth publication as a PhD student with four other papers of his, co-authored with me and with colleagues at the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) - Professor Oleh Nivievskyi and Dr. Pavlo Martyshev - appearing in such journals as: European Journal of Operational Research, Transportation Science, and the Journal of Global Optimization, as well as in an edited Dynamics of Disasters volume. Prepints of these papers can be found on the Supernetwork Center website: https://supernet.isenberg.umass.edu/dart.html.

The Isenberg School's Leaders of Impact Event at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts was Outstanding

We got back  late last night from a truly spectacular event - the 2026 Leaders of Impact event hosted by the Isenberg School of Management.

The event took place at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and this year's honorees were Earl Stafford Jr., CEO of Aperio Global, and Dr. Stavros Siokos, the Co-Founder and Partner of Astarte Capital Partners. Stavros was my former PhD student and co-author with me of the Financial Networks book as well as other publications.

The event, emceed by Isenberg Dean Anne P. Massey, celebrated the 2026 honorees and brought alums, special guests, family members, top administrators, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes, faculty, staff, and students together in the stunning venue to recognize these amazing Leaders of Impact and role models.

Below I have posted several photos from the event.

It was wonderful that three of my present PhD students: Samira Samadi, Dana Hassani, and Ismael Pour could attend as well as many undergraduates from the Isenberg School.

The food was delicious and the conversations very inspiring and enjoyable. It was great to also have colleagues from my Operations and Information Management Department there - my Department Chair - Professor Senay Solak and Dr. Michele Burch, Associate Chair, and Dr. Oscar Lopez.

It was terrific to have Senior Associate Dean Lisa Masteralexis with us and our PhD Director, Professor Fousseni Chabi-Yo, and our Undergraduate Dean, Dr. Nicole Melton, plus the Chair of the Marketing Department - Professor Liz Miller, and many others!

Even several Isenberg Professor Emeriti came - Professors Tom Schneeweis, Hossein Kazemi, and Tony Butterfield.

Grateful to these Leaders of Impact, who, through their creativity, incredible work ethic, energy, thoughtfulness, knowledge and resilience, continue to have a great positive impact on our world.

Wonderful Visit and Talk by Dr. Elena Gerstmann, Executive Director and CEO of INFORMS!

We were delighted to have Dr. Elena Gerstmann, the Executive Director and CEO of INFORMS, visit us at UMass Amherst and speak at the Isenberg School of Management. She reached out to me this past summer and, along with my Department Chair, Professor Senay Solak, we made sure that the visit would happen.

Dr. Gertsmann arrived Thursday afternoon, and had dinner at the Inn at Boltwood with my Operations and Information Management (OIM) colleague, Professor Zihao Qu, and a large group of PhD students from the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter, including last year's Chapter President, my PhD student Samira Samadi. This chapter is a great collaboration between OIM and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at UMass Amherst. 

Friday was a very busy day and I am grateful to our OIM Office Manager, Samantha Whittle, who prepared a very nice schedule for our distinguished guest, which consisted of a Meet and Greet, her wonderful talk, lunch at The Commonwealth Restaurant, an interview with Dr. Gerstmann with the Student Chapter and meetings with senior Isenberg School leadership members: Senior Associate Dean Lisa Pike Masteralexis and Associate Dean of Research & PhD Programs Fousseni Chabi-Yo with an exit interview with Professor Senay Solak.

A big shoutout to all the faculty who joined us for parts of Elena's visit, which included both Isenberg School faculty and colleagues in MIE at UMass Amherst: Professors: Zihao Qu, Shirley Shmerling, Michele Burch, Ana Muriel, Theodore Allen, Carey Baldwin, and Kathy Zilch. A special shoutout to the officers and members of the UMass Amherst Student Chapter of INFORMS, including: Sarvagya Jha, Josh Gladstone, Samira Samadi, Ismael M. Pour, Yongdong Chen, Yukti Kathuria, Solmaz Abbaspour, G. Busra Karkili, Yucheng Yao, Kelvin Ekun, Parisa Lotfibagha, Sindhoora Prakash, and Amir Khosheghbal for assisting with the logistics and also for conducting an interview with Dr. Elena Gerstmann.

INFORMS is a professional organization of over 12,000 members.

We will let everyone know once the interview is posted on the Chapter's youtube channel.

We thank Dr. Gertsmann for her time and all the excellent discussions and warm memories!

Dr. Stavros Siokos to Receive Isenberg School's Leader of Impact Award in Boston

When I heard the news, I was thrilled! My former PhD student, Dr. Stavros Siokos, who is the Co-Founder of Astarte Capital Partners, will be recognized next week at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts with the Leader of Impact Award from the Isenberg School of Management. Lorraine Martinelle wrote this lovely article on Stavros's outstanding contributions: https://www.isenberg.umass.edu/news/leader-impact-stavros-siokos-98phd-do-well-doing-good and I was honored to also be interviewed.

The collage below was prepared as a tribute to Stavros over the years. I am grateful for the memories of times in Amherst, London, Athens, NYC, and, soon, in Boston.

Stavros has been so generous with his time, wisdom, and many kindnesses, and his impactful work for our beautiful planet.

Congratulations, Dr. Stavros Siokos, and thank you for your many wonderful contributions and investments for planet earth and its people, both now and, in the future.

Congratulations to My "Newest" PhD Student

Getting a PhD requires achieving multiple milestones. Achieving each of them should be celebrated.

This past Friday, my "newest" PhD student, Sarvagya Jha, successfully passed his core exam, so congratulations are in order. Sarvagya is a second year PhD student in Operations Management at the Isenberg School of Management.

The core exam takes place at the Isenberg School after the completion of the first year of PhD courses by the student and involves both the writing of a paper as well as its presentation in an oral-type of  "defense."

Sarvagya's Core Exam Committee consisted of Professor Hari Balasubramanian of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department at UMass Amherst and Professor Zihao Qu of my Operations and Information Management Department, with me as Chair of the Committee.

Sarvagya presented his (46 page) paper on September 18 in an oral talk and responded to questions.

Afterwards, a student worker, who just happens to also work as a photographer, took the nice photo below.

Thanks to Sarvagya's committee members and to the nice photographer!

Congratulations to Sarvagya on attaining this milestone in his PhD journey!