Professor Arkadi Nemirovski, who holds the John Hunter Chair in Georgia Tech’s Stewart School of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISyE), has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).

In announcing Nemirovski’s election to the prestigious organization, the NAE commended him for his work in “developing efficient algorithms for large-scale convex optimization problems.”

Nemirovski was the only professor from Georgia Tech to be chosen for the honor this year.

“Arkadi is a world-renowned leader in his field and has profoundly influenced generations in the areas of discrete and continuous optimization. This highest of distinctions reflects his unparalleled contributions to convex optimization, which have shaped the field,” said Edwin Romeijn, ISyE’s H. Milton and Carolyn J. Stewart School Chair. “Arkadi represents the best of the Stewart School’s deep, longstanding emphasis on theoretical research. We couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions bestowed on an engineer. According to the NAE, membership honors those who have made outstanding contributions to “engineering research, practice, or education, including, where appropriate, significant contributions to the engineering literature,” and to “the pioneering of new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, or developing/implementing innovative approaches to engineering education.”

“I am delighted that Arkadi’s extraordinary career has been richly rewarded with induction into the National Academy of Engineering,” said Gary S. May, dean and Southern Company Chair, College of Engineering. “He has been a pioneer in his field, and this honor is testament to his research work and accomplishments.”

Nemirovski earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics (1974) from Moscow State University; his Doctor of Sciences in Mathematics (1990) from the Supreme Attestation Board at the USSR Council of Ministers; and his Doctor of Mathematics (Honoris Causa) from the University of Waterloo, Canada (2009). He joined ISyE in 2005.

Upon hearing the news of his NAE election, Nemirovski said, “I am extremely lucky and happy to be a member of our fantastic ISyE community, and I am greatly indebted to my colleagues for 12 years of a wonderful working experience.”

Nemirovski and other newly elected members will be formally inducted during a ceremony at the NAE’s annual meeting on October 8, 2017, in Washington, D.C.

Nemirovski joins other ISyE faculty who are already members of the NAE, including A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Institute Professor George Nemhauser, Coca-Cola Chair in Engineering Statistics Jeff Wu, Regent’s Professor Emeritus H. Donald Ratliff, Professor Emeritus William Rouse, and Professor Emeritus Ellis Johnson.