Board Members
President
Priyank Arora
Priyank Arora (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He is interested in advancing the understanding of operational decision-making within and across organizations that are motivated by social and environmental considerations. His current research efforts focus on nonprofit and sustainable operations. Besides his research, Priyank is passionate about promoting visibility and inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals in university campuses, firms, and society at large. He is excited to serve the INFORMS community as the first president of the PRIDE Forum.
Vice President
Dwaipayan Roy
Dwaipayan Roy (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia Darden Graduate School of Business where he teaches introductory operations management courses to first-year MBA students. In his research, he studies socially responsible operations with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion within and across organizational boundaries. Apart from being the inaugural Vice-President of the INFORMS PRIDE Forum, he also serves on the INFORMS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. His unique life experiences motivate his passion towards creating a safe and inclusive INFORMS for all. Prior to joining academia, Dwaipayan worked as a project manager for The Royal Bank of Scotland. When not at work, he enjoys cooking, exploring nature and catching up on lost sleep.
Treasurer & Secretary
Max Li
Max (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering. His research and teaching interests include air transportation systems, airport and airline operations, Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), networked systems, optimization, and controls.
DEIJ Officer
Léa Ricard
Léa Ricard is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Montréal. They have been actively involved in their community, as the president of the LGBTQIA+ committee at Polytechnique Montréal during their undergraduate studies and recently as the co-president of the Student Intersectoral Committee at the Institute for Data Valorization. Léa’s research interests are integer programming, column generation, and statistical learning applied in the field of public transportation. Their focuses on improving the quality of public transport service. In particular, they work on the development of data-driven stochastic optimization algorithms to improve the timeliness of buses.
Voting Members
Dionne Aleman
Dionne Aleman is the Associate Dean of Cross-Disciplinary Programs in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto, and is a Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering. She holds appointments in the UofT Institute for Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, the Institute for Pandemics, T-CAIREM, and more. She is also a co-Director of the International Centre for Translational Digital Health. Dr. Aleman’s research focuses on the application of operations research--- optimization, simulation, machine learning, and graph theory---to healthcare systems to improve the quality, timeliness, and efficiency of care. She is also the faculty co-Chair of Engineering Positive Space and the Dean’s Advisor on LGBTQ2S+ Initiatives.
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Pritha Dutta
Pritha Dutta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management and Management Science in the Lubin School of Business at Pace University in New York City. Her research is aimed at deriving novel insights on operational and strategic issues faced by different groups of stakeholders along complex global supply chains that have significant societal impact and public policy implications. Her research interests include but are not limited to sustainability, socially responsible practices, healthcare operations, agriculture and food supply chains. She is passionate about teaching and is committed to contributing to the advancement of a diverse, equitable and inclusive community in higher education.
Jan Ehmke
Jan Fabian Ehmke is a Professor of Business Analytics at the University of Vienna. Jan graduated at the University of Braunschweig in 2011 and was a PostDoc at the University of Iowa in 2012. He served as Assistant Professor at Freie Universität Berlin from 2013 to 2016 before joining University of Magdeburg in 2017 and finally University of Vienna in 2020. Jan’s research interests are in the area of prescriptive analytics for mobility and transportation applications. He is especially interested in making mobility and transport more efficient, reliable, and sustainable. He served as the president of the INFORMS TSL society in 2022.
Dorothee Honhon
(Vice President, Sponsorships and Fundraising)
Dorothee Honhon (she/her/hers) is a Professor of Operations Management and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Jindal School of Management of the University of Texas at Dallas. She was the President of the Women in OR/MS Forum in 2018. Dorothee’s current research focuses on sustainable supply chains. Dorothee is passionate about making the INFORMS community an inclusive environment where all members are free to be themselves and able to contribute with their unique skillsets and personalities. Dorothee loves running, doing yoga and gardening.
Tyler Perini
(Vice President, Mentorship and Programs)
Dr. Tyler Perini (he/they) identifies as gay and nonbinary, and he is an assistant professor at the US Naval Academy Mathematics Department in Annapolis, MD. Born in Atlanta, GA, he has spent most of his life in Southern US states: Georgia, South Carolina, and Texas. Tyler earned his PhD in Operations Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a focus on multiobjective optimization techniques. He has also been a DEI Ambassador for INFORMS. Besides his research, Tyler is passionate about introducing his students to the field of operations research, broader applications of mathematics, scientific communication skills, and visual design. He has been playing volleyball competitively for over 10 years, and he always recommends to check out the LGBT sports clubs in your local area!
Deniz Simsek
Deniz (she/her/hers) is a Ph.D. student in the Operations Management program at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Originally from Turkey, Deniz obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from Bilkent University in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Her research focuses on queueing theory and stochastic processes, with a current emphasis on developing fluid approximations for queueing systems with abandonment. Deniz believes that pride is about embracing and celebrating the diversity of individuals and is a global quest for equality and human rights. She is passionate about visibility and empowering the LGBTQIA+ individuals within the INFORMS community.