April 1999 INFORMS Informs By Thomas Magnanti magnanti@mit.edu Everywhere around us, we hear of the knowledge society and that knowledge is replacing capital as the key to competitiveness. The public invests heavily in knowledge creation and dissemination. The United States alone spends approximately $500 billion per year on elementary and higher education. Depending upon what we count, U.S. corporations spend anywhere from $50 to $180 billion per year on education and training. Education is a big business. What is the role of a professional society like INFORMS as a part of the overall educational landscape? Should INFORMS be in the education business? If so, what should it be doing? As its mission statement indicates, "INFORMS is dedicated to advancing the development and dissemination of all aspects of Operations Research and the Management Sciences (OR/MS)." This statement implies that education is central to INFORMS and, indeed, the numerous educationally related activities we offer suggest that we are in the educational business in a big way. The fact that one-sixth, or 2,000, of our members are students says a lot about us as an organization. I'd like to briefly review what we are doing in education. The list of our activities is both long and impressive. I will organize my summary into five broad categories. Content Creation and Delivery Our two core activities, meetings and journals, serve as a means of not only creating but also disseminating knowledge. The very successful tutorials at our meetings are aimed squarely at education, though almost all aspects of our meetings and publications serve to educate. The Edelman Award videotapes are yet another way that we provide knowledge to our community and beyond. Student Services INFORMS serves students in a wide variety of ways, through its more than 40 chartered INFORMS student chapters and through a large number of other activities. The INFORMS Student Union contains a wealth of practical advice concerning careers, job interviews, financial aid and many other topics, and serves as a valuable educational resource. The yearly Doctoral Colloquium offers students the opportunity to learn broadly about professional life and to explore topics like tenure, managing time, consulting and publishing with leaders from the profession. INFORMS provides job placement and summer internship opportunities. More recently, INFORMS has offered student programs tailored for industry, business and consulting. The student publication OR/MS Tomorrow permits students to communicate with each other and the INFORMS Career Booklet and Programs in OR/MS Booklet provides valuable sources of information. Student receptions at our national meetings provide opportunities for socialization and networking. These varied activities are a most worthwhile investment in the future. Student and Faculty Recognition INFORMS provides professional recognition for academic accomplishments. The Nicholson Student Paper Prize and George B. Dantzig Dissertation Award, the Lanchester Prize and the Von Neumann Prize, as well as many prizes offered by INFORMS subdivisions, recognize outstanding research accomplishments. The recently established Teaching of Practice Prize recognizes outstanding contributions to teaching. Educational Improvements and Innovations Through its Education Forum (INFORMED), INFORMS permits educators to share information about pedagogy, course content and the educational enterprise in general. In the last few years, the participation in educational sessions at our national meetings has mushroomed, reflecting the increased attention that our community is devoting to education. The recent INFORMS workshop on spreadsheet modeling and the planned workshop on case-based instruction as well as the INFORMS teaching effectiveness colloquium at the upcoming Cincinnati meeting provide other forums for educators and students to share information. So does the teacher's forum section of Interfaces. As two other recent innovations, INFORMS has launched a program on cases and will be launching a new electronic publication on teaching in OR/MS. INFORMS offers many opportunities for educators. Outreach and Public Service INFORMS contributions to education go far beyond the INFORMS membership. Indeed, many of the initiatives I have mentioned affect a broader audience. In addition, INFORMS has created several videos to inform middle school and high school students about the profession and about applied mathematics. The popular teachers workshop at out national meetings provide opportunities for high school teachers to learn firsthand about the profession, and our visiting lecturers program provides opportunities to further spread the word on OR/MS. Our public awareness program helps to educate the general populous about OR/MS and its contributions. As I think you might agree, the range and nature of INFORMS educational activities is very impressive. Can we do more? Yes, we can and we will. We are currently investigating the possibility of launching a continuing education program. Our new practice meeting will provide new educational opportunities for segments of our membership. New educational technologies such as distance education or web-based conferences and educational programs provide even more opportunities. Although none of us knows exactly what the future might hold, education will undoubtedly continue to be at the core of what we do. INFORMS will continue to inform. 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