INFORMS Open Forum

  • 1.  In Memory of Professor James MacGregor Smith - UMass Amherst

    Posted 25 days ago

    On February 7, Professor James MacGregor Smith, our colleague, mentor, and friend, passed away at his home in Amherst. He joined the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1978, right after receiving his PhD from UIUC under the supervision of ORSA (now INFORMS) former President, Judith S. Liebman, and retired in 2022 leaving an invaluable legacy. 

    Jim will be remembered dearly as a dedicated teacher, effective mentor to countless students, accomplished researcher, and prolific writer of numerous journal publications and books.  In addition to student learning, mathematical modeling and operations research, both deterministic and stochastic, were his passions. Recognized in various prestigious "best paper" awards, his research contributions were of exceptional quality in a wide range of topics from queuing networks to minimal spanning trees and optimization with many applications in engineering design, manufacturing, and transportation. 

    In gratitude, a group of former graduate students has set up a fund to collect contributions for establishing a UMass Scholarship in Jim's honor: https://minutefund.uma-foundation.org/project/41943.

    You can read more about Jim's life and accomplishments here and in the Gazette obituary. 

    -------------------------------            --------------------------------

    Emanuel Melachrinoudis             Ana Muriel

    Professor Emeritus                      Associate Professor

    Northeastern University              University of Massachusetts Amherst

    Boston MA                                  Amherst MA

    --------------------------------          --------------------------------



    ------------------------------
    Ana Muriel
    Associate Professor
    University of Massachusetts
    Amherst MA
    ------------------------------


  • 2.  RE: In Memory of Professor James MacGregor Smith - UMass Amherst

    Posted 25 days ago

    Thank you for sharing this beautiful tribute to Professor James MacGregor Smith. During my doctoral studies, I took two classes with him at UMass Amherst and gained many friends from the MIE department through his classes. Rest in peace, Professor Smith. Your dedication to teaching and research will continue to inspire us all.



    ------------------------------
    Deniz Besik
    PhD Student
    Isenberg School of Management
    University of Massachusetts, Amherst
    Amherst, MA
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


Related Content