INFORMS Open Forum

The George B. Dantzig Award is given for the best dissertation in any area of operations research and the management sciences that is innovative and relevant to practice.

This award has been established to encourage academic research that combines theory and practice and stimulates greater interaction between doctoral students (and their advisors) and the world of practice. 

Each entry must:

• Consist of a doctoral dissertation written primarily by the entrant and successfully defended no more than 15 months prior to the submission deadline (completed between March 31, 2024 and June 30, 2025) and not previously submitted.
• Present original ideas obtained predominantly by the entrant.
• Clearly illustrate and demonstrate the relevance of the work in practice and the potential impact in industry.

• A letter of recommendation from the entrant's thesis advisor that describes the significance of the research and comments on the originality of the work.
• A letter of recommendation from an industry associate that describes the relevance and the potential benefits of the research in their organization. This letter must be written by a manager familiar with the research who has served as an advisor to the research or as a coordinator to the on-site research project. The manager should be informed that they may be contacted by the committee members asking questions regarding the entrant's search.
• A summary of the dissertation (less than 5 double-spaced pages) highlighting the significance of the problem, the novelty of the methodological approach, the contribution of the research to industry, and the scope of the dissertation.
• A self-contained paper (less than 25 double-spaced pages) based on the thesis so that the award committee can evaluate the contribution of the work.

To learn more about the prize, or to start a submission, visit https://www.informs.org/Recognizing-Excellence/INFORMS-Prizes/George-B.-Dantzig-Dissertation-Award