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.
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.
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!
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.
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