The INFORMS Simulation Society awarded George S. Fishman, professor emeritus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, its Lifetime Professional Achievement Award at the opening session of the 2004 Winter Simulation Conference held in Washington, D.C. The award is the highest honor given by the Society and is made at most annually to recognize major contributions to the field of simulation that are sustained over most of a professional career, with the critical consideration being the total impact of these contributions on computer simulation. The 2004 award selection committee was chaired by Robert G. Sargent (Syracuse University), with members Thomas J. Schriber (University of Michigan) and Lee W. Schruben (University of California-Berkeley).

Dr. Fishman was a pioneer in the field of discrete event simulation. He began developing statistical methods for simulation during the 1960s, and he continued to make substantial contributions to the field of simulation for some 40 years. Fishman is the author of numerous journal articles and six books. He made fundamental research contributions, some of which were seminal, to different areas of simulation including output analysis, random number and variate generation, variance reduction techniques, and the simulation and analysis of stochastic networks. His research work was both theoretical and practical, and included the development of software for practitioners to use.

His 1973 book, "Concepts and Methods in Discrete Event Digital Simulation," was a comprehensive book on all aspects of simulation and thoroughly covered the topics, which was unique for that time period. His 1996 book, "Monte Carlo: Theory, Algorithms and Applications," received the 1996 INFORMS Lanchester Prize and the 1997 INFORMS College on Simulation Outstanding Publication Award.

Fishman has performed considerable service to the field of simulation, and for this he received the 1990 INFORMS College on Simulation Distinguished Service Award. He was chair of the TIMS College on Simulation and Gaming (now the INFORMS Simulation Society) from 1972 to 1974. He served from 1978 to 1987 as the first editor of the Simulation Department of Management Science. He served on the Board of Directors of the Winter Simulation Conference and on the Editorial Advisory Board of ACM Transactions on Modeling and Simulation. Fishman performed considerable leadership service in advancing the field of simulation, particularly in the 1970s.

Fishman also has been a leader in operations research education. He helped develop the Department of Operations Research at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which he served as a chair for a decade. He was the Ph. D. advisor to several Ph. D. students and an advisor to numerous master students.

George S. Fishman has been an exceptional contributor to the field of discrete event simulation through his research contributions, dissemination of knowledge, leadership and service. He is recognized as a distinguished world-class scholar and as a leader in the simulation field.





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