Greetings INFORMS Members!
The officers of the Military Veterans Interest Forum had their first meeting in 2026 yesterday. We had a healthy discussion of goals, objectives, and ways of increasing outreach and value for our members.
The goals for the Forum for 2026 will be to increase the membership of the Forum and to increase INFORMS awareness of and utilization of Forum members. Any member of INFORMS can join the Forum. All that is required is that you have an interest in the activities and challenges of military veterans. All countries and disciplines are welcomed and encouraged to join us.
The Forum will host activities both at the Analytics (spring) conference and the annual meeting (fall). Additionally, the Forum will host recurring, virtual activities to encourage collaboration and social interactions.
We are working on developing and publishing a recurring newsletter as well. If you are interested in contributing, please contact me (Rich Staats, staats@alum.mit.edu) or Warren Hearnes (whearnes@hotmail.com).
Finally, here is a bit about the officers who will serve this year.
Richard Staats, Ph.D. (President)
Dr. Richard Staats is a retired Major General and senior executive with deep expertise in global logistics, engineering, and organizational transformation. During his distinguished military career, he led the U.S. Army's 75th Innovation Command; simultaneously, he spent two decades at the MITRE Corporation as a Technical Director managing large-scale federal programs. A West Point graduate and Hertz Fellow with a Ph.D. in Operations Research from MIT, Dr. Staats currently serves as an executive coach and board member for technology and logistics startups.
Warren Hearnes, Ph.D. (Vice President)
Dr. Warren Hearnes is the founder of OptiML AI and a recognized leader in optimization, machine learning, and AI strategy. His 30-year career includes serving as Chief Data Scientist at Best Buy and Chief Analytics Officer at Cardlytics, following roles at The Home Depot and UPS. A U.S. Army veteran and West Point graduate, he holds a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech focused on reinforcement learning. Dr. Hearnes currently serves as VP of Technology Strategy on the INFORMS Board of Directors and advises several graduate analytics programs.
Col. Andrew O. Hall, Ph.D. (Secretary/Treasurer)
Col. Andrew O. Hall (USA, Ret.) is the Director of the School of Technology and Innovation at Marymount University and an Adjunct Research Staff Member at the Institute for Defense Analysis. He previously served as the Director of the Army Cyber Institute at West Point, where he led research and partnership efforts across the cyber domain. A retired Colonel with a background in infantry and operations research, Dr. Hall is a past President of the INFORMS Military and Security Applications Society and currently chairs the editorial board for The Cyber Defense Review.
Have a great day!
In service,
Rich
------------------------------
Richard C. Staats, Ph.D.
President, INFORMS Military Veterans Interest Forum 2026
------------------------------