The H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE) at Georgia Tech is proud to announce that William W. George Chair and Professor Pinar Keskinocak has been elected president-elect of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). She will serve one year on the INFORMS Board as president-elect and then assume the presidency in 2020.

“Congratulations to Pinar on this exciting leadership opportunity,” said ISyE School Chair Edwin Romeijn. “By serving in this very important role in the largest professional association for operations research, management science, and analytics professionals, she will continue to position both herself and ISyE as leaders in our field and assist in the advancement of our profession.”

Keskinocak, the ADVANCE Professor in Tech’s College of Engineering and the co-founder and director of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems, is also an INFORMS Fellow. Keskinocak said, “As an active INFORMS member since 1996, I have enthusiastically served our community in a variety of roles. I am grateful for this opportunity to continue my service in collaboration with INFORMS members and constituents to expand the reach and impact of our community.

“One of my priority areas is to further amplify the impact and reach of our community, for example, by focusing on broadening our membership base, establishing links with various application areas, building/strengthening the bridges between academia and industry, and broadly disseminating the work of our members highlighting their contributions.”

“The future of our field will be shaped by the new generation,” she added. “Thus, it is important to promote diversity and inclusion in our community.”

Keskinocak has held many previous roles within INFORMS. She served as both secretary and the vice president of membership and professional recognition on the INFORMS Board. She co-founded and served as president of the Public Sector Operations Research Section and the Junior Faculty Interaction Group Forum, as well as the president of the Health Applications Society and the Women in OR/MS Forum.

Keskinocak’s research focuses on the applications of operations research and management science with societal impact, particularly in health and humanitarian systems, supply chain management, and logistics/transportation.