INFORMS

INFORMS
Name	INFORMS
Formation	1995
Type	Professional association
Headquarters	Maryland, United States
Region served	International
Membership	Practitioners and academics

INFORMS is a leading professional association for practitioners and researchers focused on operations research and management science. It serves as a nexus connecting professionals from institutions such as MIT, Stanford University, Princeton University, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Cornell University, Northwestern University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, University of Chicago, and California Institute of Technology with industry partners including IBM, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Apple Inc., General Electric, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Siemens, Intel, Cisco Systems, Accenture, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, Ernst & Young, and KPMG. Its membership spans academics from London School of Economics, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, ETH Zurich, EPFL, University of Toronto, McGill University, University of Melbourne, National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University, and Peking University, as well as government agencies like National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, European Commission, United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.

History

The organization emerged from antecedents that included professional societies such as the Operations Research Society of America, the Institute of Management Sciences, the American Mathematical Society, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, and influences from conferences like TIMS and other forums linked to RAND Corporation, Bell Labs, AT&T, and General Motors research. Early milestones involved collaboration with universities including Columbia University, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, and Princeton University and with notable figures affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, Indiana University Bloomington, University of California, Los Angeles, and Brown University. Throughout its history, the association interacted with award-giving bodies such as the Nobel Prize committees indirectly through scholarly networks, and with policy-making entities like the National Science Foundation and Office of Management and Budget.

Organization and Governance

Governance structures mirror those used by professional societies such as American Statistical Association, IEEE, ACM, American Physical Society, Royal Society, and Royal Statistical Society. Leadership roles have been filled by faculty and executives from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, Duke University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon University, and Columbia University. Committees coordinate with regional sections tied to institutions like University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, Rice University, University of Washington, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Purdue University, Ohio State University, Virginia Tech, Arizona State University, and international nodes linking University College London and Imperial College London. The board interacts with partner organizations such as INFORMS Partner Societies analogs including SIAM, AMA, IIE, ASCE, AIAA, and ACS.

Publications and Journals

The association publishes peer-reviewed journals and newsletters similar in scope to titles from Elsevier, Wiley-Blackwell, Springer, and Oxford University Press. Key periodicals draw submissions from authors at MIT, Stanford University, Columbia University, Princeton University, Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Michigan, Cornell University, Northwestern University, and Carnegie Mellon University. Its publications are cited alongside works in journals such as Management Science, Operations Research, Mathematical Programming, Journal of the ACM, IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, Journal of Machine Learning Research, Annals of Statistics, Econometrica, Journal of Political Economy, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Nature.

Conferences and Meetings

Annual and specialty conferences bring together attendees from institutions and corporations including MIT, Stanford University, Google, Microsoft Research, IBM Research, Amazon Web Services, Facebook, Apple Inc., Boeing, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, Siemens, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group, and governmental agencies such as NASA, NOAA, NIST, CDC, European Space Agency, and United Nations Development Programme. Conferences feature plenary lectures comparable to addresses at Royal Society and sessions modeled on gatherings like NeurIPS, ICML, SIGKDD, ICRA, IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, and EURO.

Awards and Prizes

Award programs resemble those administered by Nobel Committee-associated prizes and society awards from American Mathematical Society, Fields Institute, MacArthur Foundation, Turing Award committees, Abel Prize structures, and national academies such as the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Royal Society. Recipients typically hail from universities and labs including MIT, Stanford University, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Chicago, Columbia University, Yale University, Cornell University, Carnegie Mellon University, Bell Labs, IBM Research, and Microsoft Research.

Education, Certification, and Professional Development

Professional development initiatives coordinate with academic programs at MIT, Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Columbia University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, University of California, Berkeley, McGill University, University of Toronto, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, and INSEAD. Certification tracks are analogous to credentialing from Project Management Institute, Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and other professional bodies. Short courses, workshops, and MOOCs often feature instructors affiliated with edX, Coursera, Udacity, Khan Academy, and corporate training from IBM, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.

Outreach and Impact

Outreach engages with policy and practice stakeholders including United Nations, World Bank, European Commission, U.S. Congress, White House, Department of Defense, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Energy Information Administration, Federal Reserve System, Securities and Exchange Commission, and NGOs like Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and The Nature Conservancy. Impactful collaborations have involved projects with NASA, NOAA, EPA, FDA, Department of Homeland Security, USDA, and multinational corporations including Siemens, General Electric, Boeing, Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen, Shell plc, BP, ExxonMobil, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co., and GlaxoSmithKline.

Category:Professional associations