INFORMS President's Award

2024 Winner(s)

Pinar Keskinocak, Georgia Institute of Technology, School of Industrial/Systems Engineering

Citation:

The 2024 INFORMS President’s Award recipient is Pinar Keskinocak for her contributions to the welfare of society at the national and global level with her interdisciplinary research in health and humanitarian systems, her advancement of women in OR/MS, and her leadership in the INFORMS community.

Dr. Keskinocak is the co-founder and director of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems (CHSS) at Georgia Tech. Her pioneering research contributes to the applications of operations research and management science with societal impact, particularly in health and humanitarian systems, supply chain management, and logistics/transportation. Her research has addressed disease modeling (e.g., COVID-19, malaria, Guinea worm, pandemic flu, asthma, depression), intervention strategies, and resource allocation; health systems design and operations; disaster preparedness and response; debris management. She has worked on projects with governmental and non-governmental organizations and healthcare providers, including CARE, Carter Center, CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory Healthcare, Georgia Department of Public Health.

Dr. Keskinocak’s research has directly impacted society. Her work on catch-up schedules for vaccinations resulted in tools used by thousands of medical providers and caregivers. Her research on COVID-19 supported response efforts in the state of Georgia during the pandemic, projecting disease spread geographically and over time, estimating hospital resource needs, and evaluating effectiveness of interventions such as school closures or masks. She and the CHHS team created a professional education program which has been attended by practitioners from over 100 countries worldwide, strengthening the supply chain expertise and operations in health and humanitarian systems.

Dr. Keskinocak has been a tireless supporter of women and underrepresented minorities in OR/MS and the broader set of scientific disciplines. At Georgia Tech, she served as the College of Engineering ADVANCE Professor and interim associate dean for faculty development and scholarship. Within INFORMS, her leadership resulted in numerous initiatives including the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion community and its DEI Ambassadors program, initiating change throughout the organization.

Dr. Keskinocak’s leadership within and for INFORMS is extraordinary. Notably, she co-founded and served as the president of the thriving Junior Faculty Interest Group as well as the Public Sector OR Section, which have touched the lives of thousands of INFORMS members and beyond. She held numerous positions within INFORMS, including Secretary, Vice President of Membership and Professional Recognition, department editor for Operations Research, president of the Health Applications Society, and more. Dr. Keskinocak successfully led the organization as president in 2020, one of the most challenging years in INFORMS history.

Purpose of the Award

The purpose of this award is to recognize, and thereby encourage, important contributions to the welfare of society by members of our profession at the local, national, or global level. Achievements suitable for this recognition may be in technical or scientific education or in paid or voluntary consulting or management (commercial, academic, governmental, or nonprofit). The accomplishments honored need not have been documented by personal execution of formal or informal OR/MS studies but could have been reflected in support or promotion of OR/MS efforts. The award is given each year at the National meeting if there is a suitable recipient. The award is a framed certificate with a brief citation.

Award Information

The purpose of this award is to recognize, and thereby encourage, important contributions to the welfare of society by members of our profession at the local, national, or global level.

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