BALTIMORE, MD, April 15, 2024 – INFORMS, the largest association for the decision and data sciences, has awarded the University of South Carolina (USC), Management Science Department, the 2024 UPS George D. Smith Prize. The award recognizes excellence in preparing students to become practitioners of operations research and analytics.
USC’s Management Science faculty has implemented the world-class Operations and Supply Chain (OSC) program that is ranked 3rd in North America at the undergraduate level and 6th at the graduate level (2022 Gartner Research Rankings). The uniqueness of the OSC program stems from the matrix approach of integrating management science and analytics into operations and supply chain curriculum to produce graduates who are expert users of a wide array of analytic tools, and who use the tools to drive top operations and supply chain performance in organizations. The companion OSC Consulting Center has partnered with 40+ global manufacturing and service organizations, contributing $330+ million in client-validated savings through 350+ capstone consulting projects. The OSC program has certified 1,600+ graduates with industry-validated Sonoco-USC Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification. The department of Management Science has also led school-wide Business Analytics offerings at the Darla Moore School of Business, including a popular undergraduate Business Analytics concentration, Master of Science in Business Analytics, Certificate Programs, and extensive professional Business Analytics executive education to the U.S. Army. These are supported by the Center for Applied Business Analytics.
Named in honor of the late UPS Chief Executive Officer – a champion of operations researchers at a leading Fortune 500 corporation – the UPS George D. Smith Prize was created in the spirit of strengthening ties between industry and the schools of higher education that graduate young practitioners of operations research. The prize is awarded to an academic department or program for effective and innovative preparation of students to be good practitioners of operations research or analytics.
Past recipients of the award include Purdue University, Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, Business Analytics and Information Management (BAIM); Master Industrial and Applied Mathematics program in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Eindhoven University of Technology; Information & Decision Sciences Department in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota; Smith School of Business at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada; University of Cincinnati; University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Air Force Academy; H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University; Sauder School of Business at University of British Columbia – Center for Operations Excellence; MIT Leaders for Global Operations (LGO); Naval Postgraduate School; and Tauber Institute for Global Operations at the University of Michigan.
The two other finalists for the 2024 UPS Smith Prize included: National University of Singapore, Master of Science in Business Analytics (NUS MSBA), and University of Waterloo, Department of Management Science and Engineering.
University of South Carolina, Management Science Department received the 2024 UPS George D. Smith Prize this evening at the Edelman Gala, a highlight of the 2024 INFORMS Analytics Conference in Orlando, Florida.
About INFORMS
As the largest professional association for the data and decision sciences, INFORMS members leverage mathematics and scientific methodologies to help organizations and governments at all levels make better, data-driven decisions. With more than 12,000 professional and student members from around the world, INFORMS members support organizations and governments at all levels as they work to transform data into information, and information into insights that save lives, save money and solve problems.
###
Contact:
Ashley Smith
443-757-3578
Media Contact
Ashley Smith
Public Affairs Coordinator
INFORMS
Catonsville, MD
[email protected]
443-757-3578