Melvin F. Shakun

The INFORMS GDN Section Lifetime Award is bestowed on Melvin F. Shakun to honor his outstanding contributions to the field and to the group decision and negotiation community. In 2004, the first GDN Section Award was conferred on Dr. Shakun in recognition not only of his contributions to research, but also the creation of a vibrant connected community of scholars, which in 1995 became the INFORMS GDN Section and the core organization for the GDN conferences. Dr. Shakun is the founder of the Group Decision and Negotiation Journal, and has been Editor-in-Chief since its establishment in 1992. He has served as Chair of the GDN Section from 1995 until 2014. He initiated the book series “Advances Group Decision and Negotiation,” and remains Series Editor. In addition to developing and strengthening the GDN community, Dr. Shakun has contributed numerous publications that now form the basis for teaching and research programs around the world.  Not only is he a great researcher and teacher of negotiation and conflict resolution, he is also an excellent practitioner. In addition, he has been a model scholar, and his successes, particularly as mentor and advisor to students and young scholars, are especially appreciated. As the acknowledged leader of the GDN community, he is a highly regarded colleague and friend, and yet he remains positive, generous with his time, and more than willing to help.
     Over forty years ago, Dr. Shakun envisaged Group Decision and Negotiation as an interdisciplinary initiative in which management science, information systems, and computer science could complement economics, political science, and other social sciences. His vision was that researchers and practitioners would benefit from an open community that develops, applies, compares, and synthesizes models and techniques from different research streams. We have come together every year since 2000. The Group Decision and Negotiation Journal is the leader of its field.  These facts testify to great leadership.
     It is our honor to present the GDN Section Lifetime Achievement Award to Melvin F. Shakun.

Vice-Chairs

Toulouse, France

Tung Bui

The 2019 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on Tung Bui to honor his outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. Tung Bui is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers in the field of group decision making and in particular by extended his MCDM work in the context of organizational group decision-making. He proposed a general framework for integrating individual decision-making to group voting using von Neumann’s MIN-MAX theorem. As a DSS researcher, Bui approaches his research on group decision and negotiation from a system analysis and design perspective with the goals to both enhancing the effectiveness of decision outcomes and the efficiency of decision processes. Bui’s GDN research effort also focuses on data management. Bui instantiates Shakun’s concept of Evolutionary System Design (ESD) to MCDM as implemented in his NEGOTIATOR system. As technologies migrate to cloud computing and mobile appliances, Bui turns his research on computer supported group decision and negotiation using Web services. His scientific contribution is undoubtedly major in the GDN field. His publication record is 14 books and over 180 papers in leading journals in several fields.
Dr. Bui has always been an active contributor to the GDN section as participant and plenary speaker at GDN conferences, as departemental editor of the GDN journal since its inception. For all his accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to Tung Bui.

President, GDN Section

Chair, Nominating Committee

Pascale Zaraté

The 2018 INFORMS GDN Section Award is proudly conferred on Professor Pascale Zaraté to honor her outstanding contributions to the field of Group Decision and Negotiation. Dr. Pascale Zaraté is an internationally renowned researcher in the field of Group Decision Support Systems. Her work combines methods from information systems design, multicriteria decision making, and group support processes to create environments and software tools that support groups and organizations in systematically addressing their challenging decision-making problems. Accordingly, her innovative research provides an excellent example of the breadth and spectrum of techniques that characterize our field. She has influenced academia through the publication of many high quality refereed journal papers, conference articles, book chapters and books. She is also a highly active member of our GDN community. For instance, Dr. Zaraté is Associate Editor of the GDN journal, and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Decision Supports Systems. She is a regular participant in GDN conferences and she organized the remarkably successful GDN 2014 conference held in Toulouse. As one of the Chairs of the Euro Working Group on Decision Support Systems, she has contributed significantly to close cooperation with GDN, which resulted in several joint conferences. For all of her stellar achievements, it is indeed a great honor to present the 2018 GDN Section Award to Dr. Pascale Zaraté.

President, GDN Section

Chair, Nominating Committee

Adiel Teixeira de Almeida

The 2017 INFORMS GDN Section Award is proudly conferred on Professor Adiel Teixeira de Almeida to honor his outstanding contributions to the field of Group Decision and Negotiation. Dr. Adiel T. de Almeida is a globally renowned mentor and researcher in GDN from a multiple objective decision making viewpoint, who has contributed significantly to the development of the GDN Section of INFORMS. He is widely recognized for his significant contributions to the development of Group Decision; Multiple Criteria Decision Making/Aid; Models for Risk, Reliability and Maintenance Decision Analysis; and Decision Model Applications for addressing challenging real decision problems in many fields. He has strikingly influenced academia through the publication of many high quality refereed journal papers, conference articles, book chapters and books. He has been an active contributor to the GDN Section of INFORMS, as participant, plenary speaker and Program Chair at GDN International conferences and organizer of the GDN conference 2012 in Recife. He served on the Editorial Board of the GDN journal since 2011 and as Departmental Co-Editor of Management Science; as member of the Board of the GDN Section of INFORMS since 2015; and now as Vice-President for Membership and Publications. For all his achievements, it is a great honor to present the GDN Section Award to Adiel Teixeira de Almeida.

President, GDN Section

Chair, Nominating Committee

Fran Ackermann 

The 2016 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on Dr. Fran Ackermann to honor her outstanding contributions to the field of Group Decision and Negotiation. Professor Ackermann has made significant scholarly contributions to the development of GDN, and to the advancement of the GDN Section for over two decades. She is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers in the field of Group Decision and Negotiation through the use of GDSS to support the resolution of messy, complex problems and to facilitate negotiation.  Dr. Ackermann has published 5 books, 28 book chapters and 62 papers in peer-reviewed journals, with 30 of these papers being in the GDN field.  She has received two Best Paper awards from the Academy of Management.

Dr. Ackermann has been an active contributor to the GDN Section as an initiator and President of the EURO GDN workgroup, and as participant and plenary speaker at GDN conferences. She was the primary organizer of the first INFORMS GDN conference held in Glasgow. For all of her fine accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to Dr. Fran Ackermann.

President, GDN Section

Chair, Nominating Committee

Bellingham, U.S.A., June 20-24, 2016

Katia Sycara

The 2015 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on Katia Sycara to honor her outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. Katia Sycara is widely acknowledged as one of the leading researchers in the field of autonomous software agents and in particular on problems related to joint decision making and negotiations of such agents. Her work is characterized by a unique combination of methods from Artificial Intelligence and research on human negotiations, and thus has contributed to significant advances in both fields. Her publication record of more than eighty papers in leading journals in both fields, and several hundred other publications including proceedings in highly esteemed conferences and collective volumes underlines her outstanding achievements in research. Her scientific achievements earned her an Honorary Doctorate, and many awards for her excellent research. Dr. Sycara has always been an active contributor to the GDN section as participant and plenary speaker at GDN conferences, as area editor of the GDN journal since its inception, and as book editor contributing to the Series Advances in  Group Decisions and Negotiations. For all her accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to Katia Sycara.

June 23-26, 2015

Chair

Warsaw, Poland

Hannu Nurmi

The 2014 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on Hannu Nurmi to honor his outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. Dr. Nurmi’s unique interdisciplinary GDN research comprises the development of public choice, voting mechanisms, conflict resolution, and group decision-making. Dr. Nurmi has made outstanding contributions to the development and of theory of rationality and social choice. His research is well known and widely read. Since the 1970s many scholars were influenced by his numerous works, including “Rationality and Public Goods: Essays in Analytical Political Theory”, “Power, Voting, and Voting Power” and “Calculus of Consent in the EU Council of Ministers”. Dr. Nurmi is a well-known and acknowledged member of the INFORMS GDN Section, a highly regarded and generous colleague, always positive, supportive and willing to help. He is an Associated Editor of the Group Decision and Negotiation Journal since its inception. He has also been a frequent speaker and a keynote speaker at GDN meetings. For all his accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to Hannu Nurmi.

June 10-13, 2014

Chair

Toulouse, France

Keith William Hipel

The 2013 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on Keith William Hipel to honor his outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. Dr. Hipel’s unique interdisciplinary GDN research comprises the development of conflict resolution, multiple criteria decision analysis, time series modelling and other decision-making methodologies for addressing complex systems lying at the confluence of society, technology and the environment, with applications in water resources, environmental engineering, energy and sustainable development. Dr. Hipel has made outstanding contributions to the GDN Journal by serving as a reviewer, author, and the associate editor since its inception. He also co-edited and edited three special issues of the journal. His other contributions to the GDN Section include: active participation in conferences, member of the Organizing and Program Committees for eight conferences, member of three panel sessions, keynote address at the GDN 2012 conference, and advisor at Doctoral Consortium at GDN 2008 and 2013. For all his accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to Keith William Hipel.

June 17-21, 2013

Chair

Stockholm, Sweden

L. Floyd Lewis

The 2012 INFORMS GDN Section Award is conferred on L. Floyd Lewis to honor his outstanding contributions to the field of group decision and negotiation. As a researcher, Dr. Lewis developed one of the earliest Group Support Systems (MeetingWorks) that is still actively used by many institutions around the globe. He has published extensively on GSS and other collaboration technologies. He has also made outstanding contributions to the GDN Journal by serving as a reviewer, author, and the associate editor for over 15 years, during which he co-edited and edited two special issues. His other contributions to the GDN Section include: active participation in conferences, member of the Program Committee since the inaugural meeting in 2000, Chair of the GDN Awards Committee, and the Section Webmaster for many years. For all his accomplishments, it is an honor to present the GDN Section Award to L. Floyd Lewis.

May 20-24, 2012

Chair

Recife, Brazil

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