Vanguard Software VP to Chair INFORMS Public Information Committee

Committe tasked with improving the visibility of Operations Research and the Management Sciences (OR/MS)

Cary, NC – February 3, 2008 – Brian Lewis, VP of Professional Services for Vanguard Software, will Chair the Public Information Committee (PIC) for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). The PIC is part of the Outreach Group of committees that report to the Vice President for Marketing and Outreach of INFORMS. Lewis' nomination was confirmed by the INFORMS Board of Directors in late January and he will serve as PIC Chair through the end of 2010. “Brian’s background, energy, and experience make him an ideal candidate to lead PIC,” said Anne Robinson, Vice President for Marketing and Outreach of INFORMS and Senior Manager of Analytical Forecasting and Modeling for Demand Management and Planning at Cisco. “This committee is crucial for propagating the importance and relevance of INFORMS and the application of advanced analytics.”

The mission of the Public Information Committee is to improve the visibility, understanding, and appreciation of - and especially the support for - Operations Research and the Management Sciences (OR/MS). A top priority of the PIC is to improve the visibility and appreciation of the whole professional field through branding. The situation faced by the field is analogous to an imaginary medical world in which there is visibility and appreciation of specialists and their specialties (cardiology/cardiologist, surgery/surgeon) but little or no visibility or appreciation of the entire field (medicine/physician) in which the specialties are related. The committee will work closely with the INFORMS Public Relations Director, Barry List, to promote achievements of OR/MS and build relationships with reporters and writers so that they recognize output from the profession when they see it and look to INFORMS as a source of expertise and help for related stories.

Lewis explains that "operations research and management science techniques are used to some degree by almost every company, government agency, and non-profit group. However, many organizations do not realize or recognize they are doing so. They are just trying to improve the way their organizations plan, operate, and make decisions. I hope that the PIC can highlight the successes of OR/MS and show OR/MS practitioners that they are, in fact, OR/MS practitioners."

Lewis has a long history with OR/MS and INFORMS. He received a Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, a M.S. from the University of Michigan, and a B.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, all in the field of Operations Research. In addition, Lewis has been an active member of INFORMS since 1999.

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About Vanguard Software

Vanguard Software is a privately held corporation founded in 1995 to develop business Decision Support software. Customers in over 60 countries and in every major industry use Vanguard’s software for forecasting, resource optimization, Web-based expert systems, and financial modeling. For more information about Vanguard, visit http://www.vanguardsw.com/.