Bernard Koopman, a talented mathematician, flew with allied pilots during World War II to understand the physics of looking for enemy submarines. As a result, he invented mathematical search theory, a set of results so powerful that it helped turn the tide of battle in the Atlantic theater. Koopman's work was kept under top-secret security wraps for 15 years, until it was published in Operations Research in the late 1950s. Subsequent developments in search theory have led to Lanchester Prize recognition (for a 1975 book by Lawrence D. Stone) and an Edelman Prize Honorable Mention (in 1991, for finding a U.S. steamship that sank in 1857 loaded with tons of gold).

The words we use can influence and even constrain our thinking. In my mind, too many INFORMS colleagues partition our membership into two groups: "academics" and "practitioners." Apparently, "academics" — safely ensconced behind ivied walls — prove theorems and create new algorithms. Practitioners — with hands dirty and feet wet — "do" operations research, apparently using results from textbooks and canned software packages. But which of these two words — academic or practitioner — describes Philip M. Morse? Bernard Koopman? Or, going earlier, A. K. Erlang, who invented queueing theory in order to help the Copenhagen Telephone Company appropriately "size" its newly invented telephone switching systems?

These leaders in O.R. methodology found the need to develop new theory by working on real problems. They were both academics and practitioners. They are analogous to physicists who are both experimentalists and theoreticians. Interestingly, O.R. as a field was created by physicists. Physics is a compelling paradigm for operations research. By observing complex processes involving people and technology, we learn the physics of these processes and find ways to make them function better.

As we approach the eighth generation of O.R. Ph.D. students, we must ensure that INFORMS provides opportunities for young researchers to work with real problems and to find the exciting topics that will guide the methodological developments of tomorrow. No one wants to work on problems first framed and formulated many decades ago. If we limit ourselves to the old problems, O.R. as a profession will wither away. Young researchers must find ways to identify pressing new problems that, when framed, formulated and "solved" using O.R. approaches, can provide huge impact in practice and create important new theory.

This brings us to the INFORMS Practice Meeting, held every spring, which brings together the full spectrum of O.R. professionals. There are professors who are seeking to learn of new and unformulated pressing problems of industry and government. There are O.R. workers and executives from industry and government who want to share their problems with faculty members and who want to learn the latest and greatest tools and techniques to help their companies. The Franz Edelman Award Competition, the "Super Bowl of O.R. applications," takes place at the conference.

An important part of the conference is the Young Researchers' Roundtable. Academic O.R. department heads nominate young faculty members for Roundtable. The Roundtable provides young researchers with new perspectives on critical business problems facing industry today, enabling them to broaden their research agendas. The participating young faculty members (roughly defined as untenured faculty with Ph.D.s less than five years old) receive a plaque and a 50 percent reduction of the registration fee. Special Roundtable events introduce participants to well-established researchers and business executives for a roundtable discussion. I support this initiative so that the O.R. professors of the future will have opportunities early in their careers to apply their outstanding analytical talents to important problems faced by industry and society. They will also become aware of practice-oriented leadership roles that exist in INFORMS.

The fifth INFORMS Practice Meeting, "Applying Science to the Art of Business," was held in Palm Springs, Calif., on April 17-19. Thirty-five individuals representing 32 universities participated in the Young Researchers' Roundtable. We at INFORMS are proud of programs such as the Young Researchers' Roundtable, programs that facilitate the constructive interaction between those who conduct O.R. research and those who would benefit from it. It is an important step toward maintaining the vitality of O.R.

At the 2005 INFORMS Practice Meeting, the first INFORMS Professional Colloquium (IPC) was launched. The IPC is a one-day workshop to help the top practice-oriented O.R. graduate students successfully transition to life in industry. (Attendance is by nomination only.) Today, only a small fraction of the M.S. students graduating from O.R.-related programs join INFORMS. The IPC aims to build connections between industry and academia by reaching out to students on the verge of becoming professionals, especially M.S.-level students. Based on the results of the long-running INFORMS Combined Colloquium for Ph.D. students, I believe that the networking opportunities and positive experience of IPC will lead to lasting associations with INFORMS and the rich community it serves.

The IPC program focuses on skills for business success, with a mix of hands-on activities, presentations, panel discussions and networking events. IPC participants are automatically registered in the INFORMS Practice Conference. The combination of the two programs gives attendees an array of perspectives and opportunities for exchange that is difficult to come by elsewhere. While the premise of the IPC is sound, its success depends on a student's ability to travel. Funding M.S.-level students to workshops is not a tradition in many schools or for many corporate sponsors. It is clear that we need to address this funding problem. The IPC is an opportunity for the O.R. community to invest in building the interface upon which the vitality of the profession depends. With only one IPC to date, it is too early to assess the IPC's impact. We look forward to the growth and success of this exciting initiative in the years ahead.

We are committed to O.R. practice, a perfect focus for many current and evolving INFORMS initiatives. We welcome your suggestions on additional programs and services that INFORMS can undertake to make our own practice perfect.

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