Getting Great News While on the Train - You are a Fellow!

When one gets some very good news (or bad), one remembers that very moment - from what you were doing when you heard the news to where you were when you received it.

Nowadays, much good news comes via email and, with smartphones, the messages can be received almost anywhere.

While on a recent trip to NYC, via the MetroNorth train from New Haven, I was engrossed in my New York Times and enjoying the journey. I love riding trains. My husband reached for my smartphone and decided to check my email and said, "You have a message from Oxford University."

I suspected that this was a decision on my application to be a Visiting Fellow at Oxford, a dream I had harbored for a while.

And indeed, it was!  The message said that a letter inviting me to take up a Visiting Fellowship had been posted and the sender stated that "I take great pleasure in attaching a pdf copy."

The letter, a hardcopy of which I also subsequently received via Royal Mail,  stated that I had been offered the fellowship for the 2015-2016 year for the trinity term, which is the term that I had requested.

I will be a Fellow at All Souls College at Oxford and will be researching supply chains and quality, a topic that I a very passionate about since it impacts so many products that affect consumers from pharmaceuticals and food to high tech and durable products.  Almost every day, one reads about quality failures of suppliers, some with devastating effects on human lives.

According to the letter, I will be provided with a workroom in the college, will have free accommodation at Oxford, and will have meals at Common Table (yes, capitalized). The atmosphere and support will be incredible.

One can become a Fellow of a professional society (for example, I was so honored to become a Fellow of INFORMS and also RSAI). One can also be a Visiting Fellow, as at Oxford, and other universities that have such programs, as well as at Institutes. For example, in 2005-2006 I was a Science Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, one of the best experiences that I have ever had, and where I wrote my Supply Chain Network Economics book.

I am so honored to have this great opportunity at one of the greatest universities in the world!

And, amazingly, On December 4, 2014, at our wonderful tribute to Gene Isenberg, after whom our School of Management at UMass Amherst is named, I had the pleasure of speaking with one of the grandsons, Stefan, who had recently graduated from Oxford! He told me about the unique place that All Souls College has at Oxford and its exceptional library. I know that I will be inspired tremendously and will do my utmost to contribute to research and the life of the college while I am there and afterwards. Also, Stefan told me that he has appeared in several recent episodes of the PBS Masterpiece Mystery Inspector Lewis series (a followup on the Inspector Morse series), which takes place in Oxford, with many of the characters affiliated (fictionally) with Oxford University,  I became captivated by this program while being a Visiting Professor in Gothenburg (the Swedes show a lot of British TV programs).

A list of the Visiting Fellows this year is comprised of an economist, lawyers, literature scholars, and an astronomer, to start, with renowned universities such as Harvard and Stanford represented. I thrive in interdisciplinary settings such as Radcliffe, so am so looking forward to experiences that I know will be truly special.

60 Years of Urban Travel Forecasting - Traffic Continues to Fascinate

It is hard to miss all the recent news about transportation and traffic,  including the (in)famous so-called "traffic study" in New Jersey that closed lanes, which, in turn,  resulted in huge traffic jams on the George Washington bridge connecting the state of New Jersey with New York, lasting 4 days, and which has now even made international news as reported by the BBC.   The lane closures, it  seems, were instrumented under the guise of studying traffic flows, but, in reality, it is being alleged, they  were to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for "misallegiance." The scandal has even damaged the reputation and standing of the governor of New Jersey, Mr.  Christie,  a potential candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.

Who would have thought that traffic mis(management) could be a political weapon or even the downfall of government officials?!

Travel forecasting, that our New Jersey "leaders" might have benefited from, has actually been studied for over 60 years!

And, there is a new book being written, a U.S. - U.K. collaboration between Professors David E. Boyce and Huw Williams, which, I am told, is nearing completion on this very topic. I was contacted by Professor Boyce a few weeks ago to review Chapter 7 of the book, which, I believe, will be published by Edward Elgar Publishing, and should be about 700 pages! Chapter 7 is on Transportation Network Equilibrium, a topic very near and dear to me. What I especially like about this chapter (and book) is the tracing of the intellectual history of the various discoveries in terms of mathematical model building and algorithms, coupled with tensions between academics and practitioners, in a sense, in that the former want to get the latest advances into practice as soon as possible with many challenges along the way.

Professor Boyce is a great colleague and mentor, and renowned in transportation circles, having received  the Robert Herman Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Science. He is also an INFORMS Fellow and an RSAI Fellow. I have not (yet) met his co-author,  Professor Huw Williams, although I know of his work. Last Fall, Boyce gave the talk, Urban Travel Forecasting: A 60 Year Retrospective, at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, and  he gave me permission to post it on the Virtual Center for Supernetworks website, since I found it so fascinating. He has been periodically, as time passes, updating this talk.

You can access his presentation, in pdf format, here.

Seeing photos of such luminaries as Martin Beckmann, Dan McFadden at the Nobel ceremonies with Moshe Ben-Akiva,  John Wardrop, plus Michael Florian in the slides (with a surprise photo of Suzanne Evans and me), was a great trip in nostalgia. And, I also enjoyed David Boyce's great sense of humor as the two slides below, taken from his talk, reveal.

And, for all those researchers and practitioners out there in operations research, and transportation science, see what remains to be done below!

And for a musical rendition of the New Jersey traffic jam,  enjoy the video with Bruce Springsteen and Jimmy Fallon below.
http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/bruce-springsteen-and-jimmy-fallon-gov-christie-traffic-jam-born-to-run-parody/n45079/

Packing Up for the Regional Science Conference in Atlanta

I am getting ready for the 60th Annual North American Meetings of the Regional Science Association International, which are taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, November 13 -16, 2013. 

My two talks are prepared and a session organized. My presentations are uploaded to the Supernetwork Center website.

The session that I organized is in honor of Professor David E. Boyce, who is both an RSAI Fellow and an INFORMS Fellow (He and I are the only Fellows of both of these societies). This will be Professor Boyce's 50th consecutive such conference -- He considers himself lucky and we are thrilled to be honoring him in Atlanta for his scientific leadership and mentorship.


Formal Paper Session In Honor of Professor David E. Boyce ‐‐ His 50th NARSC Conference ‐‐ His Scholarship and Mentorship Friday Nov 15 | 10:30 AM‐12:30 PM |Grand Ballroom 3

Organizer and Chair: Anna Nagurney, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts

• Conventional Transportation Planning Models: Review and Prospects for Alternatives, Tschangho John Kim, University of Illinois
• A Corridor‐Centric Approach to Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure, Marco Nie, Northwestern University
• David Boyce, RSAI Archivist, Kieran Donaghy, Cornell University
• Shrinking Global Population ‐‐ a Futuristic Scenario or a Current Challenge, Hillel Bar‐Gera, Ben‐Gurion University of the Negev.

One of my talks will be in the second Memorial Session in honor of Professor Walter Isard and I have reposted both sessions below:

Special Session Water Isard Memorial Session I Thursday Nov 14 | 1:30 PM‐3:30 PM | Grand Ballroom 3
Organizers: Tschangho John Kim, University Of Illinois; Adam Rose, USC
Chair: David Boyce, Northwestern University

• Rise of Megalopolis as a Mega Knowledge Region: Interactions of Innovations in Transport, Information, Production, and Organizations, T. R. Lakshmanan, Boston University; William Anderson, University of Windsor; Yena Song, University of Southhampton
• Framework for Spatial Models for Future Cities, Tschangho John Kim, University of Illinois
• Demographic Challenges to Regional Development, Geoffrey Hewings, University of Illinois ‐ Urbana‐Champaign; Euijune Kim, Seoul National University
• Cluster Dynamics: Structural Properties of Cluster Life‐Cycles and Public Policy, Roger Stough, George Mason University.

Discussants:
 David Boyce, Northwestern University
 Karima Kourtit, Free University, Amsterdam
 Kingsley E Haynes, George Mason University
 Tschangho John Kim, University Of Illinois.

Special Session Water Isard Memorial Session II Saturday Nov 16 | 10:30 AM‐ 12:30 PM | Grand Ballroom 3
Organizers: Tschangho John Kim, University Of Illinois; Adam Rose, USC
Chairs: Karima Kourtit, Free University, Amsterdam; Adam Rose, USC

• An Integrated Disaster Relief Supply Chain Network Model with Time Targets and Demand Uncertainty, Anna Nagurney, Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts; Amir H. Masoumi, Manhattan College; Min Yu, University of Portland
• Impact of Transportation Infrastructure in the US Northeast: A Spatial Econometric CGE Assessment, Zhenhua Chen, George Mason University; Kingsley E. Haynes, George Mason University
• High‐speed Railroad Passenger Services: What Market Sizes and Station Spacings Are Indicative of Success? David Boyce, Northwestern University; Satish Ukkusuri, Purdue University; Jacqueline Lo, Northwestern University; Jiwon Kim, Northwestern University
• The Process of Regional Economic Growth: A Modeling Perspective, Richard S. Conway, Jr.

Discussants:
 Adam Rose, USC
 T. R. Lakshmanan, Boston University
 Roger Stough, George Mason University
 Geoffrey Hewings, University of Illinois ‐ Urbana‐Champaign.


The full conference program can be directly accessed here.

Congrats to the 2012 INFORMS Fellows and the RSAI Fellows!

Being elected a Fellow of a professional society is a sizable recognition and achievement.

Different societies have different rules regarding who can nominate someone for a Fellow Award and what criteria are used for nomination and selection (even who can or cannot nominate, sometimes).

For example, in 2007, I was elected a Fellow of the RSAI (Regional Science Association International), and was the only female elected that year, but I was not the first female and followed in the footsteps of my dear friend and colleague, Karen Polenske of MIT, with whom I have explored, because of conferences and workshops even exotic St. Petersburg. To follow in the footsteps of Professor Martin Beckmann, who was on my dissertation committee at Brown University and whose seminal book, Studies in the Economics of Transportation, with McGuire and Winsten, set the bar for transportation research, Professor Walter Isard, the founder of the field of regional science, Professor David E. Boyce, a true mentor, gentleman, and scholar, and also INFORMS Fellow, and Professor Jean Paelinck, who has published over 55 books, and 300 refereed journal articles (now, this is being productive) and speaks numerous languages, is quite the honor. These true greats were elected in 2002, the first class of RSAI Fellows. Professor Isard passed away at age 90 just a few years ago.

Since my election, I have served on the RSAI  Fellows Selection Committee and have also chaired it. RSAI Fellows are recognized for their research and previously elected Fellows vote but cannot nominate someone.

INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) just announced the class of 2012 elected Fellows and it is a great list:

• Guillermo Gallego, Columbia University
• Bezael "Ben" Gavish, Southern Methodist University
• Daniel Granot, University of British Columbia
• Patrick Harker, University of Delaware
• Michael N. Katehakis, Rutgers Business School
• Karl Kempf, Intel
• Ramayya Krishnan, Carnegie Mellon University
• Richard P. O'Neill, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
• Rakesh Kumar Sarin, University of California, Los Angeles
• Yves Smeers, Université Catholique de Louvain
• Marius M. Solomon, Northeastern University
• Sridhar Tayur, Carnegie Mellon University. 

So congratulations are in order!  The Fellows will be formally inducted during a luncheon at the INFORMS Annual Meeting in Phoenix this fall. The rules for INFORMS Fellow nominations are here.

 The newly elected 2012 RSAI Fellows are below:

•  Brian J.L. Berry, The University of Texas at Dallas, USA
• Ronald E. Miller, University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Stuart S. Rosenthal, Syracuse University, USA
• Yves Zenou, Stockholm University, SWEDEN.

It is also a terrific list of recipients.

The RSAI awards ceremony will take place at the annual meeting, which will be in Ottawa, Canada in November 2012. I stepped down from serving on this committee after 3 years of service and chairing it last year.

And, in November, there will be another Nagiurney becoming a Fellow of one of his professional societies. My husband will be inducted in NYC  (I am very much looking forward to this event) as a Fellow of the Radio Club of America. He will receive his certificate at the Club's 103rd Annual Banquet at the New York Athletic Club. The Radio Club of America is the oldest association of professionals in the radio and wireless telecommunications industries. Founded in 1909, The Radio Club of America has counted among its Fellows the very best in the radio communications industry such as Edwin Armstrong, David Sarnoff, Louis Hazeltine, John V. L. Hogan, Paul Godley and Allen B. DuMont. 

So, this year we will be singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" at multiple locations and toasting all the newly elected Fellows.

Chairing the Fellows Selection Committee

Many professional societies recognize their most distinguished scholars through election / selection as a Fellow of the society. To achieve a fellow recognition signifies recognition by one's peers at the highest level of professional achievement.

Having served on the Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Fellows Selection Committee for the past two years, this year I am chairing the committee.

The RSAI website contains the following nomination information:

RSAI members are invited to nominate distinguished scholars for consideration to become 2011 Fellows of RSAI. The nomination process can be initiated by any member of RSAI and consists of a letter of nomination, detailing the scientific merit and contribution of the nominee and an up to date curriculum vitae. Current Fellows are not allowed to submit nominations. To ensure full consideration by the committee, these materials should be provided in electronic format (pdf preferred) by January 31, 2011 to Anna Nagurney, Chair 2011 Fellows Election Committee at: nagurney@gbfin.umass.edu

The above RSAI website link also contains names of all previously elected Fellows. There are presently 58 living Fellows and two deceased ones (Reginald Gollege and Walter Isard, the founder of the field of Regional Science, who passed away last month at the age of 91).

The Nobel laureate Paul Krugman of Princeton University was elected RSAI Fellow last year. David E. Boyce, Professor Emeritus of the University of Illinois, and Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University, is both an INFORMS Fellow and an RSAI Fellow.

Among the RSAI Fellows are 5 females: Karen R. Polenske of MIT, Ann Markusen of the University of Minnesota, Janice Madden of the University of Pennsylvania, and Aura Reggiani of the University of Bologna, Italy, and yours truly.

The first group of RSAI Fellows was elected in 2002 and consisted of:

• Walter Isard, Cornell University, USA
• Martin Beckmann, Brown University, USA and Technical University of Munich, Germany
• Jean Paelinck, Erasmus University, NETHERLANDS
• David Boyce, Northwestern University, USA.

RSAI has an international membership of over 3,000, more than one third of whom are Europeans. According to its web site, “Founded in 1954, RSAI is an international community of scholars interested in the regional impacts of national or global processes of economic and social change. The work of RSAI draws on the expertise of many different disciplines and this multi-disciplinary approach helps to facilitate new theoretical insights for tackling regional problems. In turn, this provides an increasing opportunity for academics within the Association to engage more fully with planners and policy makers. Building on a strong foundation of quantitative methods, regional science is at the cutting edge of research into new model design for regional analysis and impact assessment. The Association fosters the exchange of ideas and research within regional science through its publications and the international scientific conferences it hosts.”