Gregory Lecture Series

Details

Michael P. Johnson, Ph.D.
Professor and Chair of the Department of Public Policy and Public Affairs
University of Massachusetts Boston

Abstract: How Can We Put Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Center of our Work in Operations Research/Analytics?

Operations research, management science and analytics has a long and proud history of public-sector applications and successes. From public safety, to aviation, to natural resources and public services provision, the decision sciences have played an important role in ensuring that public goods and services may be designed to meet public needs, and developed and distributed to generate maximal public benefit. In the wake of the murder of George Floyd in 2020, however, the worldwide movement against racism and for social and racial justice has prompted many to re-consider traditional notions of what ‘diversity, equity and inclusion’ mean, and how our work can both better reflect these principles, and generate public impacts consistent with these principles. In this talk, I will discuss what I’ve learned about the role that diversity, equity and inclusion play in the OR/analytics profession (where and how the OR/analytics gets done, and taught) and the discipline (what we know, and learn, about OR/analytics theory and methods). I’ll also discuss a broader research agenda whose goal is to provide clear and useful guidance to researchers, teachers and practitioners in OR/analytics who wish to put diversity, equity and inclusion, and racial and social justice, at the center of their work and service.

Tune in via Zoom:

https://ufl.zoom.us/j/93695698478?pwd=bFFMY0NnTVE3MUtKMkkzalE1U3UxUT09
Meeting ID: 936 9569 8478
Passcode: 2i402x