A BIG Thanks to Operations Researchers at Lancaster University in England for the Outstanding Hospitality

I am back in Amherst, Massachusetts, after being in Europe for 10 days, traveling first to southern Italy where I gave a keynote talk at a conference in a castle and also blogged about it, followed by a  fabulous day in London, and then several days in Lancaster, where I taught a Masterclass on Network Equilibrium at Lancaster University. There I was hosted by STOR-i, which is a Center devoted to doctoral training in statistics and operational research (or, as we say in the US, operations research). I had been invited to teach the Masterclass last summer, and, since I had given a talk at Lancaster, when I was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College at Oxford University in the spring/summer of 2016, and enjoyed the experience very much, I accepted the invitation. The colleagues in operations research/management science at Lancaster are extraordinary so I was looking forward to seeing them again and also to meeting students that would be taking my Masterclass. This past week was spring break at the University of Massachusetts Amherst so instead of teaching at the Isenberg School of Management I would be teaching at Lancaster University.

On March 11, 2018, I took the Virgin train from Euston Station in London to Lancaster and was delighted to see that the station was promoting the University.

A short taxi ride brought me to the Lancaster House Hotel, which was my domicile for the duration of my stay and the view from my hotel was perfect with seagulls often chirping.

My Masterclass consisted of 4 two hour lectures:

My first evening in Lancaster, I had the great pleasure of having dinner with Professor Graham Rand, who is an extraordinary ambassador for both INFORMS and IFORS, and I have lost track as to the number of conferences I have enjoyed seeing Professor Rand at.

Meeting the students was a delight and I very much appreciated their insightful comments and questions.

Special thanks to Lucy and Luke, two STOR-i doctoral students, who accompanied me to one of the lunches.

It was also wonderful to be able to see Professor Matthias Ehrgott and Professor Judith Wang of Leeds University, for a lunch. I have dined with them even in Auckland, New Zealand, where they were faculty before coming to the UK. Professor Ehrgott has served as the Chair of the Management Science Department at Lancaster, the largest department of its kind in England!

A special thank you to Ms. Rosemary Hindley, who made the arrangements for me and the hospitality extended was exceptional and which I so much appreciated!

Other highlights (yes, I did a lot of lecturing (8 hours worth) but also a lot of eating, which kept my energy level high) included dinner at a Thai restaurant with Professor Pavlidis and his doctoral student, and dinner with two Distinguished University Professors: INFORMS Fellow Professor Kevin Glazebrook, the Director of STOR-i, and Professor Konstantinos Zografos, whom I have known for many years (and he received his PhD at the University of Connecticut and has been recognized with, among his awards, an engineering alumnus award). Professor Glazebrook drove us to the restaurant through the countryside, The Lunesdale Arms in Tunstall, where I had one of the most delicious meals in my life! A huge congratulations to Professor Glazebrook and his team for developing an exceptional doctoral training programme in operational research, which engages students with academics and industrial partners and practitioners.

I will be back in Lancaster, England in September and am truly honored to be giving a plenary talk then at the OR60 Conference! 

And, one of the best rewards of teaching, is inspiring students and I was so pleased to see that Alan F. Wise wrote an excellent blogpost on the Braess Paradox, after my Masterclass!  Coincidentally, I had had a very lovely communication with Professor Dietrich Braess himself, while I was in Europe. And, also, while in Europe, I heard from the renowned physicist, Professor Adilson Motter of Northwestern University, about the publication if his latest paper, which also discusses the Braess (and other related) paradoxes. This paper I thoroughly enjoyed reading after my return.

A big thank you also to all the airlines that carried me on 7 flights over 11 days: British Airways, Alitalia, and Aer Lingus.

Amazing Management Science PhD Students at the Isenberg School of Management (Present and Past)

The strength and intellectual vitality of any college or university depends on the quality of its students and faculty, as well as programs.

In the case of a university, in particular, doctoral students add to knowledge discovery and generation and bring energy in terms of curiosity, ideas, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

I continue to be impressed by the quality of the doctoral students at the Isenberg School of Management at UMass Amherst and, in particular, by those in the Management Science track that I work closely with. To-date,  I have had the joy of chairing 17 doctoral dissertations and am now supervising 3 doctoral students, all of whom, coincidentally, it just so happens, are females, from 3 different countries.

Having returned recently from the INFORMS Annual Conference, which was in San Francisco, I can attest to the professionalism, creativity, and cameraderie of our PhD students, both past and present, who make up our academic family. They support one another professionally, enjoy one another's company, and some even share a room (fun and cost-wise) at conferences. They exchange tips with one another, whether in regards to teaching or research, collaborate on challenging problems, and even attend one another's weddings. And, when it comes time to celebrate achievements, such as the awarding of promotion and tenure, a special award,  or even promotion to Full Professor (3 of my former PhD students are now Full Professors),  we do it with style and joy. Just to mention some recent achievements: my doctoral student, Dong "Michelle" Li received the 2014 Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award from the Isenberg School, and my student, Sara Saberi, received the 2014 Isenberg Scholar Award (one of twelve) for $10,000 and recently had this award renewed. Together,  one of our papers, written with Professor Tilman Wolf, and published in Netnomics,  was recognized by the ACM (Association of Computing Machinery) with a Notable Paper Award for 2013.  Professor Senay Solak's student, Heng Chen, also received a 2014 Outstanding Doctoral Student Researcher Award, as well as a prestigious FAA research award. In addition, Professor Solak's student, Yueran Zhuo, had her poster tie for second place at the Advanced Cyber Security Annual Conference. And, as I always say, "Apples don't Fall Far from the Tree," Farbod Farhadi, who received his PhD last May, and whose advisor was Professor Ahmed Ghoniem, last year was recognized by the Isenberg School with an Outstanding Doctoral Student Teaching Award!

It takes a community to solve tough problems and to also make the academic journey more pleasant.  

Below is a photo that my former doctoral student, Professor Min Yu, took at the INFORMS Student Chapter Award ceremony in San Francisco last Monday evening. So proud of the UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter receiving and yet another national award from INFORMS for its activities. The chapter is truly in the Isenberg model and vision with officers and members from the Isenberg School and the College of Engineering.

 

Below, I have posted some more photos of the Management Science PhD students, both present and past, taken at the INFORMS conference. Other photos  are on previous blogposts on this blog.

In the above photo, taken at the INFORMS conference exhibit area, I am standing with my former student, Professor Jose M. Cruz, who received 5 degrees from UMass Amherst, and with Professor Min Yu. Professor Cruz is at the School of Business at the University of Connecticut Storrs. He has won both the undergraduate and graduate teaching award there and has been appointed an  Ackerman Scholar twice (a major research achievement). One of my former Operations Management students, Jan Sudra, who works at UTC, and is studying for a Master's at UConn, told me that he loved Professor Cruz, and he called him a research superstar!  Cruz is also the Director of the super successful Master's in Project Management and Analytics at UConn.  Professor Min Yu is one of my co-authors on many papers as well as on my latest book, Networks Against Time: Supply Chain Analytics for Perishable Products. She was recognized for her achievements by being appointed a Pamplin Fellow at the University of Portland.

In the above photo, we await the beginning of our supply chain session that I organized for the conference that took place last Monday. In the photo are the speakers, including my first female PhD student, Professor June Dong of SUNY Oswego, Professor Patrick Qiang of Penn State Malvern, and, in the audience, Professor Ke Ke of Central Washington University, who was also my PhD student.
Dong "Michelle" Li, seated in the front, was the first presenter and you can find our presentations on the supernetwork center website. My doctoral student Sara Saberi is seated behind Professor Qiang. I have co-authored books with Professor Dong and also with Professor Qiang, whose dissertation received the Charles Wootan Award from the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC).

In the photo below, I am with my former doctoral student,  Dr. Padma Ramanujan of SAS, whose dissertation received the Transportation Science Section (now the Transportation Science & Logistics Society) of INFORMS dissertation prize,  Dr. Deanna Kennedy, one of our former doctoral students in Management Science, and Dr. Min Yu. Deanna was recruiting for a faculty position at the University of Washington Bothell and it was wonderful to see her again!

Isenberg Graduate Students Excel in Award-Winning Student Chapter

The Isenberg School at UMass Amherst has issued a press release on the award that our INFORMS Student Chapter will receive on November 9, 2010 at the INFORMS Conference in Austin, Texas.

Our student chapter will be honored for the fourth year in a row with a national award from INFORMS for its activities. This year we will be receiving the magna cum laude award.

As Faculty Advisor to this terrific group of students, I could not be happier for them. They accomplish so much professionally and socially through teamwork, dedication, and innovation.

Last year's President of the student chapter, Min Yu, who is a doctoral student in Management Science, and also my student, will be joining me in Austin, Texas to receive the award on behalf of our chapter.

For the full press release click here.

The UMass Amherst INFORMS Student Chapter website can be accessed here.

Even today, on a gorgeous Fall day, this group of students will be hosting a ping pong tournament, complete with pizza, refreshments, and prizes! A former member, Thomas Lenk, who happens to be visiting Amherst from Germany will take part!

Students Sharing Their Good Job News

Yesterday, a student came to my office who will be graduating next month with a concentration in Operations Management. He wanted to tell me personally his good news (rather than just sending me an email). He had received two excellent job offers recently and had made his decision. When he told me that he will be working for a company located in the Prudential Center in Boston, I was thrilled. He was so excited about accepting this offer (and told me that he had a 30 minute time window in which to notify both companies that had extended him offers, which had been stressful). He decided to go with a privately held company, which may be more risky. His father, who is a postal worker, had told him that he regretted taking the more conservative professional route in his life and wanted his son to avail himself of exciting opportunities. My former student will have full health and dental benefits as well as partial payment towards additional academic coursework. Plus, what a location to be working in -- right in downtown, gorgeous Boston!

It was wonderful to share in this student's happiness. I look forward to meeting his parents at next month's UMass Amherst graduation. This time of the year with graduations is truly special and marks wonderful milestones in our students' (and their families) lives.

Also, another student (this one a doctoral student, whose dissertation advisor was a colleague of mine, who died this past December) wanted to share her good news with me. She received a tenure track Assistant Professorship offer from a university in the South and has accepted it. Her doctoral concentration is in Management Science and she will be teaching quantitative methods at the university's business school. She said: I feel extremely lucky as well as grateful for the training I received from our doctoral program. I want to personally thank you, for being such a good teacher and inspiring professor. I hope in the years to follow, I can represent our school and our program well.

It is very gratifying to have students excel both in the classroom and on the job market and to have them take the time to acknowledge their professor. Students that have the work ethic (and wonderful manners) will do well. I am very proud of them.