The INFORMS Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee cordially invites all members of the community to attend a three-part webinar series discussing the new report on DEI in STEMM organizations created by the National Academies. Our first webinar, moderated by Dr. Pinar Keskinocak and titled "Bridge the Divide: Unveiling the DEI Gap and Embracing Inclusion," will begin on October 3rd. During the webinar, we will delve into key aspects of the report, including the historical context of racism in the U.S., demographic insights, the experiences of underrepresented individuals, and the leadership's role in fostering inclusivity. Join us for an enlightening and informative discussion with panelists Dr. Emily Vargas, Dr. Michael P. Johnson, and Dr. Cole Smith.
Moreover, Dr. Emily Vargas, one of the editors of the report, will provide a 20-minute overview of the entire report as well as the set of recommendations within it.
Moderator: Dr. Pinar Keskinocak
Panelists:
Dr. Emily Vargas
Dr. Michael P. Johnson
Dr. Cole Smith
Pinar Keskinocak is the William W. George Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. She is also co-founder and director of the Center for Health and Humanitarian Systems. Previously, she served as the College of Engineering ADVANCE Professor and as interim associate dean for faculty development and scholarship. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, she worked at IBM T.J. Watson Research Center. She received her Ph.D. in Operations Research from Carnegie Mellon University, and her M.S. and B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University.
Dr. Keskinocak's research focuses on the applications of operations research and management science with societal impact, particularly health and humanitarian applications, supply chain management, and logistics/transportation. Her recent work has addressed infectious disease modeling (including Covid-19, malaria, Guinea worm, pandemic flu), evaluating intervention strategies, and resource allocation; catch-up scheduling for vaccinations; hospital operations management; disaster preparedness and response (e.g., prepositioning inventory); debris management; centralized and decentralized price and lead time decisions. She has worked on projects with companies, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and healthcare providers, including American Red Cross, CARE, Carter Center, CDC, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, and Intel Corporation.
She is an INFORMS Fellow and currently serves as the president of INFORMS. Previously she served as the Secretary of INFORMS, a department editor for Operations Research (Policy Modeling and Public Sector area), associate editor for Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and INFORMS Vice President of Membership and Professional Recognition. She is the co-founder and past-president of INFORMS Section on Public Programs, Service, and Needs, and the president of the INFORMS Health Applications Society.
Emily Vargas is a program officer with the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Washington, D.C. Emily earned her Bachelor’s degree with honors in Psychology from Rutgers University in New Jersey. Following graduation, she earned her MS and her PhD in Psychology from the University of Michigan in the area of Personality and Social Contexts. After graduation, she completed a 2-year T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. Emily continued working at Northwestern University as a Research Assistant Professor in Preventive Medicine, funded through a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant. Emily’s expertise is focused on the intersection of individual’s marginalized identities and psychosocial factors, and how they impact well-being as well as inform disparities and equity.
Michael P. Johnson is Professor in the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs at University of Massachusetts Boston and interim director of the William Monroe Trotter Institute for the Study of Black Culture. Dr. Johnson’s research focuses on developing decision models to improve operations and strategy design of nonprofit organizations and government agencies. His primary application areas are affordable and assisted housing, community development, climate change response, and diversity, equity and inclusion in the decision sciences. Dr. Johnson has special interests in community-engaged research methods for operations research and analytics, using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Dr. Johnson has published widely in academic journals of OR/analytics, urban planning, and housing policy. His most recent extended works include a lead-authored book, Supporting Shrinkage: Planning and Decision-Making for Legacy Cities (SUNY Press, 2021) and a lead-edited volume of curated papers, INFORMS Editor’s Cut: Diversity and Inclusion: Analytics for Social Impact (INFORMS, 2019). He is a member of the editorial boards of Socio-Economic Planning Sciences and European Journal of Operational Research. He is founding chair of the INFORMS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and founding member of the INFORMS Pro Bono Analytics Committee. Dr. Johnson earned his PhD from Northwestern University in operations research in 1997 and his bachelor of science from Morehouse College in 1987.
Dr. J. Cole Smith is Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. Prior to taking his role as Syracuse, he was Associate Provost of Academic Initiatives and Professor of Industrial Engineering at Clemson University. He has also served as Interim Department Chair of Industrial and Systems Engineering for one year at the University of Florida, and Department Chair of Industrial Engineering for four years at Clemson University. His research has been supported by the NSF, DARPA, AFOSR, DTRA, and the ONR, and he has spent one summer as a Distinguished Visiting Professor in the National Security Agency’s summer program in operations research technology. His research regards mathematical optimization models and algorithms, especially those arising in combinatorial optimization, and he has had the pleasure of collaborating with colleagues across many different disciplines. Dr. Smith’s awards include the Young Investigator Award from the ONR, the Hamid K. Elden Outstanding Young Industrial Engineer in Education award, the Operations Research Division Teaching Award, the 2014 Glover-Klingman prize for best paper in Networks, and the best paper award from IIE Transactions in 2007. He became a Fellow of IISE in 2018. He has served on the Board of Trustees for IISE, and on the Board of Directors for INFORMS as the Vice President of Publications.