INFORMS Open Forum

All INFORMS member have arrived in the world of operations research, analytics, or data science from different paths, some straight and some delightfully unexpected.

Tell us your origin story!

• Was it a class that blew your mind?
• A mentor who saw your potential?
• A random job assignment that turned into a passion?
• Or maybe a moment of curiosity that led you down a rabbit hole of models and methods?

Share your journey in the comments, whether it’s inspiring, funny, or full of twists.
You never know who might relate to your story or be inspired by it!

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Garrett Johnston
Membership Engagement Coordinator
gjohnston@informs.org
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My father got interested in game theory in the 50's-- he was an engineer and businessman, and heard of von Neumann and Morgenstern and the minimax principle. He wouldn't stop discussing it.  

Later at college, I had a job working at the Accelerator which was a few miles from campus. There was a shuttle bus to get there and back. I puzzled for some time about how long after my arrival at the bus stop I would have to wait for the next shuttle.  William Feller (the William Feller) pointed out to me that the mean arrival time would be half the scheduled time between rounds, and this was easily shown using probability theory. I was amazed!

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Bruce Hartman
Professor
University of St. Francis
Tucson, AZ United States
bruce@ahartman.net
website: https://sites.google.com/ahartman.net/drbrucehartman/Home
blog:http://supplychainandlogistics.org
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Thanks for the insightful post, Garrett.

For me, it was. job assignment in an E-commerce firm which enlightened myself to analytics. I was feeling amazed at the power this tool gave me to understand Customer's behavior; how they navigate webpage, where are they clicking etc. In a nutshell, as if I was able to understand the customer inside out using Analytics.

I am curious to know about other members' journey.

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Jayant Singh
Analyst
Oak Park IL
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