Touching base on 2022 milestones

Ashley Kilgore:

For this episode, I’m so pleased to once again, be joined by the 2022 INFORMS President, Radhika Kulkarni. We started 2022 off with my first interview with Radhika as president and discussed what was in store for INFORMS in the coming year. Radhika joins me once again to share some important INFORMS milestones and updates on a few of the topics we discussed earlier this year. Radhika, welcome back. It’s such a pleasure to speak with you again.

Radhika Kulkarni:

Thanks Ashley, for having me on this podcast. It’s always a pleasure to speak with you and to connect with our members, in any fashion. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.

Ashley Kilgore:

So Radhika, since our first interview at the beginning of the year, quite a lot has happened with INFORMS, including our official return to fully in-person analytics conferences with a 2022 INFORMS business analytics conference in Houston. What were some highlights for you from the meeting?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Oh, many of them. So I’ll try to pick a few. The analytics conference has always been my favorite INFORMS event ever since it was first started. This year, I looked forward to it with greater anticipation than ever because it was the first fully in-person event since 2019. Looking at the smiles on everyone’s faces as I met them in the halls of the conference venue, I can say that I was not alone in this sentiment. It was a great opportunity to meet many old friends, and make new ones, and enjoy a variety of sessions.

Radhika Kulkarni:

On Sunday, I spent most of my time in the presentations of the George Smith finalists with three universities, describe the many ways in which they’re producing O.R. and analytics professionals of the future. I spent most of Monday attending all the Edelman presentations and feeling proud to see so many critical and innovative applications. The tremendous and timely value provided by O.R. and analytics in solving global problems, was highlighted by the fact that three of the finalist projects had a direct connection to problems arising from the global pandemic, or were deeply affected by it like Janssen and Gobierno de Chile and the US census. Of course, each project, whether it was connected to the pandemic or not, was wonderful to listen to all the innovative ways in which they were using our research and applications.

Radhika Kulkarni:

This year, I was struck by the fact that so many of the major rewards were won by international organizations. The George Smith prize was by the Technical University of Eindhoven, the Edelman prize by Gobierno de Chile, the Innovative Applications and Analytics award by professor Debjit Roy and his team from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad in India. We are indeed an international organization. I also enjoyed meeting many students from several universities. For many of them, this was the first INFORMS conference they attended, and I hope that it sets in motion, a lifelong connection to our profession and our organization.

Radhika Kulkarni:

I could go on and on about everything I enjoyed at the conference. Let me just say it was fantastic and congratulations to the organizing committee and the INFORMS staff for making this successful for everyone.

Ashley Kilgore:

So you mentioned the Edelman competition. One of the most memorable moments from the analytics conference for many has to be the announcement of the 2022 Franz Edelman award winner during the Edelman gala celebration. In fact, the video of that announcement has been viewed more than 45,000 times, just since the conference, making it one of the top INFORMS videos of all time. And the reaction of the winning team from Chile was just incredible. What was that moment like for you?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Oh my gosh. It was amazing. The euphoric applause from the Chilean team when the winner was announced is still ringing in my ears. It was an incredible moment for me, indeed. I can truly say that I will never forget this year’s gala. I had always anticipated the moment of announcement to be an exciting one and the closest I would ever come to an Oscar moment. But the reaction from the team and the resulting applause from the audience in response to their joyous yell, was beyond any expectations. The next day at the reprise, Dr. Paula Daza told me that my announcement was viewed by thousands of people in Chile, and that I was now famous there. It was indeed very exciting. Apart from my personal excitement, I think the uniqueness of this year’s win is the fact that the entire country was involved in this project because of the global and terrifying nature of the pandemic. It is a true exemplar of the far-reaching effects of our profession and its ability to save lives, save money, and solve problems. Congratulations to the winning team.

Ashley Kilgore:

So in our first interview, this past January, we covered a lot of ground regarding the key objectives for INFORMS over the coming year. In particular, the INFORMS advocacy initiative, as well as the role INFORMS could play in supporting the government’s national AI initiative. Could you share any updates in regard to these efforts?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Certainly Ashley, I’d be glad to. There are two updates that I would like to share. The second AI or workshop organized jointly by INFORMS, ACM SIGAI, in-person and the CCC is planned to be an in-person event in Atlanta, on August 16th and 17th. As with the first workshop, we plan to invite a mix of speakers and participants from both the O.R. and AI communities. The key theme for this workshop will be trustworthy AI.I’m really looking forward to that.

Radhika Kulkarni:

The second update is regarding professor Krishnan’s selection to the White House’s national AI advisory committee. Late last year, in response to a general request for nominations, the INFORMS executive committee decided to nominate professor Ramayya Krishnan to this national-level committee. I’m very glad to report that Krishnan is just one of just 27 people who are named to the NAIAC. Krishnan, of course, is superbly qualified for this appointment. And his selection is a huge honor to INFORMS and our profession because we now have someone who can influence AI strategy at our country’s highest levels. Many thanks to Krishnan for accepting this responsibility and to Jeff Cohen and the signal group for their efforts in supporting this nomination.

Ashley Kilgore:

Some of the additional efforts we touched on in our last interview included the new informed strategic plan launched in early 2021, as well as ongoing activities to support and highlight diversity, equity and inclusion within the INFORMS membership. Is there anything relating to these two efforts that you’d like to share?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Certainly. One of the goals in the strategic plan is increasing member value. Relating to this goal, are two questions. How can we add value to INFORMS members in the many demographics? Are there any products or services that we can offer to industry and practice members, in particular? I would like to mention two topics related to this goal.

Radhika Kulkarni:

The first one relates to industry members. The board is exploring opportunities to increase practice member engagement. During the spring board meeting, we had a mega discussion around practice. The term mega discussion is used by the board for a typically three hour session during the board meeting for in-depth discussion about a specific topic. This mega discussion was led by Robin Lougee VP practice with ample support from Scharan Johnson. We invited some industry professionals as guests to provide their perspectives on how INFORMS can better provide value to industry professionals. The board and informed staff will use feedback from these discussions to further engage with various constituencies and consider possible enhancements of services or products we can provide. Stay tuned to hear more about this effort.

Radhika Kulkarni:

The second relates to student members. I mentioned to you earlier that it was exciting to meet many students at the analytics conference. I think student membership is important for the health of our organization because they represent the future of our profession. The health of our profession relies heavily on the pipeline of talent, feeding the multiple industries in need of analytical talent, as well as training future educators entering academia. What better way is there than visiting universities and even high schools and exciting prospective students about the many opportunities in the field of O.R. and analytics?

Radhika Kulkarni:

I will mention two totally different visits to universities that I made in the past couple of months. One was to Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management, where I met several faculty members who enthusiastically support their students participation in INFORMS events. In fact, this year they sponsored more than 50 students to attend the analytics conference and encourage them to present posters at the event. In fact, the three winning posters, they were Purdue students. I think that this is a great way for universities to encourage students to become members of professional organizations because that’s important for their future career.

Radhika Kulkarni:

Another visit of mine was to the University of Kansas, where I gave a talk about the challenges and opportunities of an analytics career. The audience was a group of self-leadership fellows in engineering, many of whom were unfamiliar with the field of operations research. It was great for me to be able to talk to them about the many opportunities in a diverse set of domains to make a difference with training in O.R. and analytics. I heard later from the organizers that the students said they were considering a career in data analytics. So I felt like mission accomplished. Creating a pipeline of students entering our field must start at the earliest stages, even in fact, in high school and earlier. So this visit was particularly gratifying to me. I encourage any of you to try to find opportunities to be an ambassador of our profession to undergraduates as well as high school students. It is truly gratifying.

Radhika Kulkarni:

You asked me about efforts related to the DEI with which is also one of the goals of INFORMS. With regard to the DEI efforts. I would like to mention two efforts that are underway. The first one relates to an ongoing effort to ensure that we have a sufficiently diverse group when it comes to search committees, various INFORMS volunteer committees, et cetera. Professor Mark Lewis, the INFORMS secretary is leading a project to create some guidelines that we need to establish with regard to the process of forming the various committees to ensure that we have a sufficiently diverse group with regard to multiple demographics. This often requires that we cast a wider net and make it easier for volunteers to raise their hand, to make a difference.

Radhika Kulkarni:

The second one related to DEI is the production of a custom video on unconscious bias training, which was produced specifically directed at INFORMS Committee members. This was announced in multiple INFORMS channels and is available on YouTube as well. This video has been well received by many of our communities, as it highlights some sources of bias that we are often not even aware of. The DEI committee of INFORMS has produced a companion document with discussion questions to go along with this video, which community leaders can then use to stimulate discussion among their groups after watching the video. I have heard many compliments about this project and encourage all of you to watch the video.

Ashley Kilgore:

And now as we move into summer, what are some upcoming INFORMS events or activities that you’re looking forward to?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Of course, I’m really, really looking forward to the AI O.R. Workshop in August. And I’m fairly busy working with the organizers on the final details of the agenda, inviting speakers and participants, and just getting ready for it. Then the second thing I’m also looking forward to is continuing the connection with the Chile team, the team from Chile. One of the outcomes of the conference was the connection I made with Dr. Paula Daza from Chile, who is keen to engage with INFORMS members who are active in the healthcare field. So I have started making some connections with some of the researchers in our organization and among our community who are very active in healthcare research. And I’m looking forward to making these connections for her and her team to explore possible areas of collaboration. I think it’ll be great to have some more international involvement in this fashion. I’m looking forward to that.

Ashley Kilgore:

Radhika, it’s been such a pleasure catching up with you. Before we wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share about the state of INFORMS ?

Radhika Kulkarni:

Yeah, sure. Many efforts are underway in every area to improve the value we can provide to our membership. Over the past few months, I have been following the efforts of many INFORMS staff members in the different areas that they are passionate about and work very hard in. I have enjoyed working closely with Elena and love our biweekly meetings, where we discuss many topics related to our community, and more importantly, any opportunities that we can pursue to strengthen our organization. I believe that we have a wonderful board and INFORMS staff committed to serving our membership. And I am excited to help wherever I can.

Ashley Kilgore:

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