Why Small Gestures are Big and What Great Leaders Already Do and Know

It is always so interesting to observe and see how those in positions of "substance" behave and act, especially when it comes to those that they oversee or who may report to them.

I continue to be impressed by those who lead by example and -- who

• take the time to write a nice note, which need not be on fancy stationery, or send a timely, enthusiastic and supporting email;
• congratulate those who have achieved something special and do so publicly, which makes it even more special;
• praise members of the organization for a job well-done;
• show up to events even when bosses may not be there to take attendance;
• do what should be done without extra financial compensation;
• mentor and advocate for those less fortunate or without the "right" connections;
• create opportunities that build up people and an organization rather than use tactics that "divide and destroy;"
• add humor and spirit to daily interactions.
  

As people move up (and down) the hierarchies of various organizations, institutions, corporations, and even universities, great leaders are those that will be followed because they took the time to acknowledge others.

One cannot be successful by doing it alone.

Looking Forward to Speaking at the Boston INFORMS Chapter on Supply Chain Networks

I will be speaking next Tuesday evening (right before the Thanksgiving rush) in the Boston INFORMS Chapter Speaker Series.

I am very much looking forward to giving my talk, Supply Chain Networks: Challenges and Opportunities from Analysis to Design. The talk will take place at Emptoris.

My hosts will be Dr. Les Servi of MITRE (a fellow Brown University alum with two degrees in Applied Math and a Harvard PhD and long-standing, very active member of INFORMS) and Dr. Olga Raskina of Emptoris (a Columbia University PhD).

More information on my talk and the venue is available here.

Celebrating International Week and the New NSF Director on NPR

This week we are celebrating International Week at the Isenberg School and our atrium is festooned with flags of different countries as featured above.

There are also special activities planned this week to commemorate different countries and international experiences.

And today's Boston Globe is reporting that Massachusetts is one of the top states attracting international students for education, with Boston University, MIT, Harvard, Northeastern, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, being the leading such universities within the state!

Speaking about international experiences, I very much enjoyed the interview on NPR by Ira Flatow with the new NSF Director, Dr. Subra Suresh. In the interview, the transcript of which is available here, Dr. Suresh said: I've been fortunate to have had the experiences that I've had, having been born abroad. And here is the basic truth related to that: Science has no borders, no boundaries, and science is nonpartisan. If you look at the United States, more than half of all the American Nobel laureates in the last 60 years were born abroad.

He also spoke about the importance of collaborations and in bringing different disciplines together to solve the most difficult problems whether in clean energy or transportation (I concur)!

The US continues to be a mecca for education but it is essential that researchers have the support necessary to make fundamental discoveries and breakthroughs. Research requires uninterrupted time for intense work and concentration.

Even Armadillos were at INFORMS in Texas

To give you a feeling (if you couldn't make it) of the scope of experiences that a conferee at the recent INFORMS Annual Meeting that took place in Austin, Texas may have had, I share with you some sights and sites above both in and outside of the conference center venue.

The photos above include snapshots of the Capitol building, the beautiful views on the River Walk, the fabulous keynote talks by Professors Ed Kaplan of Yale and John Birge of the University of Chicago and, yes, even armadillos, which took part in "races" at one of the evening conference receptions. That photo was provided by Professor Debra J. O'Connor of Holy Cross College (thank you)! I assume that the armadillos did not have to pay registration fees.

Yalta Optimization Conference on Network Science Featured in The Ukrainian Weekly

I was very pleased to see that The Ukrainian Weekly ran a recent feature article on the Yalta Optimization Conference on Network Science that took place in Ukraine this past summer.

It was fascinating to visit the country of my first language and the birthplace of my parents. Although I was born in Canada, I did not learn English until my family immigrated to the US and I entered kindergarten.

The editor of The Ukrainian Weekly, Ms. Roma Hadzewycz, has given me permission to post the feature article on this terrific conference. The issues of this newspaper go online one year after print publication.

You may read the article, which is in pdf format, here. The photos therein are in black and white so I have included color versions above.

It was a privilege to deliver the first keynote lecture at this conference: Fragile Networks: Identifying Vulnerabilities and Synergies in an Uncertain Age.

You can read more about this wonderful conference and my travels and adventures in Yalta on my earlier blogposts.

Women in Operations Research and the Management Sciences Keynotes at INFORMS

I'd like to thank Professors Alice Smith of Auburn University and Candi Yano of UC Berkeley for sharing their wisdom at the WORMS keynote session at the recent INFORMS Conference in Austin, Texas. Special thanks to Professor Sadan Kulturel-Konak of Penn State Berks for organizing this session!

Dr. Smith spoke on "Forging International Linkages of Women in OR Academia," whereas Dr. Yano's presentation was on: Lessons from the Lives of Women OR/MS "Veterans."

The photos above were taken at this session.

Both Dr. Smith and Dr. Yano are previous recipients of the WORMS Award.

One highlight from Dr. Smith's presentation -- she answers every request from an international student or scholar who emails her about information and has hosted visitors from Iraq, China, Turkey, and several other countries.

One highlight from Dr. Yano's talk -- the importance of mentors and advocates. One hears a lot about mentors but less about the importance of having advocates, which can clearly smooth one's professional life and advancement at every stage of one's career!

Although there was only one, shall I say, "official," female keynote speaker in the INFORMS conference program this WORMS session added to the portfolio of keynote female speakers!

I guess women have to be creative and proactive in order to get more of their voices heard and the WORMS community is leading the way!

A Tribute to the Founder of Regional Science, Walter Isard

It has taken me a few days to come to terms that the founder of the field of Regional Science, Walter Isard, passed away last Saturday at the age of 91. I heard the sad news while at the INFORMS conference in Austin, Texas through a message from David E. Boyce who is not only an INFORMS Fellow but also a Regional Science Association International (RSAI) Fellow.

The Regional Science conference is now taking place in Denver, Colorado.

The New York Times ran an obituary on Professor Isard last Monday and Professor Boyce graciously prepared an obituary on the RSAI website.

There aren't many individuals today who can say that they established entirely new fields.

Professor Isard, you will always be remembered as a great scholar, humanitarian, and gentleman. Thank you for coming to my talk at Cornell University on April 1, 2009. Having you in the audience meant the world to me.

The middle and bottom photos above were taken at Cornell that day. In the middle photo joining me with Isard were Professors Kieran Donaghy, my kind host, and Sid Saltzman (the father of Matt Saltzman, who is well-known in INFORMS circles). In the bottom photo, in the background, is my collaborator, Professor June Dong of SUNY Oswego.

The top photo above was taken at the RSAI conference in November 2008 in Brooklyn. I am standing behind Isard who is seated between my two dear friends, Professors Manfred Fischer and David E. Boyce.