Along with many other INFORMS members, I share a passionate enthusiasm for the field of operations research (O.R.) and what O.R. does to make a real difference in the world. I am grateful for the nomination, and I am energized about the opportunities that exist for us to advance our profession.

INFORMS has an astoundingly diverse membership, and we also have diverse ways of describing what we do. In my own words, INFORMS is about promoting the use of quantitative models and methods to improve decision-making by individuals and organizations. Early in my own career, I did this as a boundary-spanning academic who drew from decision theory, economics, psychology and statistics. My research considered both how managers, investors and other professionals actually make decisions, as well as how to devise methods and approaches for improving those decisions. From the beginning, I discovered that ORSA and TIMS (and later, INFORMS) provided a congenial community of like-minded colleagues doing interesting things. I particularly valued the interaction with the best minds in my field, many of whom were busy putting O.R. to work in the real world.

More recently, I have been balancing the roles of academic and practitioner, largely because of a decade spent starting up and growing a successful O.R.-based software business. While doing this, I have also engaged in significant service to INFORMS, serving on the board as treasurer and contributing to INFORMS publications as an associate editor and an editor in chief, among other things. In part, this service represents a desire to return value received. Quite simply, I would not have become the person I am today if it were not for INFORMS, and I want to give back to the organization. More importantly, I believe that we can create even greater value for the profession now and in the future.

If elected, my agenda will be to stimulate growth through new programs and services, in order to enhance the recognition O.R. receives for extraordinary contributions towards better decision-making. We have never been in a stronger financial position than we are right now, and we are ready to invest in programs and services that enhance our mission. We should make crucial investments in new initiatives that build on the considerable success we have already achieved through our publications, our meetings and our other activities. Let me suggest three areas that have considerable potential: meetings, professional education and publications.

Meetings are central to our organization. Our fall national meeting has already grown substantially and is, literally, a huge success. Summer international meetings are wonderful for bringing INFORMS to new audiences around the world, and we should continue them. Our great growth opportunity is the spring conference on O.R. practice. After just seven years, this meeting is now firmly established as a programmatic success, but we can and should work to bring a larger audience to this excellent event.

Most technical/professional societies similar to INFORMS serve practitioners with an extensive catalog of professional education programs, offering short courses both in person and, increasingly, over the Internet. Given the wealth of talented O.R. educators and experienced practitioners among our membership, developing this ought to be a natural for us. By doing so, we could both attract many new members and encourage the adoption of the latest and best O.R. methods.

Developing new publications and new models for delivering our existing published content has considerable potential for both energizing our membership and for attracting new audiences to O.R. content. To cite one example, in 2004, INFORMS launched a new journal, Decision Analysis. After years of minimal change in membership, the INFORMS Decision Analysis Society experienced more than 50 percent growth. What other new products could we develop that might have similar effects on both current and new members?

In the short run, we will know if our initiatives are succeeding by looking for new faces at our meetings, and new names on our membership and subscription rosters. In the long run, we want to observe greater penetration and impact of O.R. on businesses and other organizations, more jobs for O.R. professionals and greater demand for O.R. educational offerings in our institutions of higher education.

Let me conclude by noting that INFORMS has a long and distinguished history of highly capable and accomplished leaders. I am honored to be considered for this leadership position, and look forward to this opportunity to contribute to the profession.

Don Kleinmuntz is both an O.R. academic and practitioner. He is cofounder of Strata Decision Technology, an 11-year-old company with more than 60 employees in Champaign, Ill., and Chicago. The company develops software for financial planning and resource allocation focused on U.S. not-for-profit healthcare, with systems installed at more than 1,400 healthcare-related businesses including academic centers and health systems, comprising more than 20 percent of all U.S. hospitals. Kleinmuntz also holds a part-time research appointment at the University of Southern California, where he applies risk management to counterterrorism.

Previously, Kleinmuntz served on the faculties of the University of Illinois, M.I.T. and the University of Texas. He has three degrees from the University of Chicago, including a Ph.D. in Decision Theory and Statistics. Kleinmuntz has received awards for both research and teaching excellence. His current work concerns applications of O.R. techniques to healthcare financial management and homeland security.

Kleinmuntz recently concluded four years as INFORMS treasurer, where he helped INFORMS achieve its strongest financial position ever. He was also instrumental in the successful launch of the INFORMS journal Decision Analysis, recently finishing his term as founding editor in chief.






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