As his tenure as president of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) concluded in 2018, Professor Nick Hall received unique recognition for his service and a powerful reminder of the vast reach of the Fisher alumni network.

Hall, the holder of the Berry Designated Professorship and a professor of management sciences, was presented with a framed American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on October 30, 2018. The flag was flown at the request of U.S. Rep. Steve Stivers (BA ’89, MBA ’96) in recognition of Hall’s service to INFORMS and his “tireless dedication to the field of operations research and analytics.”

“This was an incredible and completely unexpected honor,” Hall said. “I’m thankful that the work that INFORMS has done is being recognized outside of academia, and I’m especially grateful that a former student, who is now among the leaders in Congress, took the time to make it happen.”

In a personal note to Hall, Stivers, who also serves as the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, wrote: “You helped instill in me an appreciation for the importance of thoughtful analysis in problem solving — lessons that I carry with me today in Congress and that I try to share with my colleagues on behalf of the people of Ohio and the nation.”

INFORMS, with 12,500 members in 86 countries, is the world’s leading academic and professional society for operations research and analytics. As INFORMS president, Hall initiated the organization’s first advocacy program to work directly with policymakers in Washington, D.C. He organized and led the May 2018 Government and Analytics Summit on Capitol Hill, which featured two former Cabinet members as keynote speakers. This event provided senior policymakers with a rich, non-technical perspective on how operations research and analytics can be more broadly utilized in the areas of health care, national security and transportation.

Hall also personally led delegations to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and to the offices of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise, among others. Following this initiative, INFORMS has held over 80 additional policy briefings for national policymakers.

Hall, who has twice received the Fisher Pace Setters Faculty Research Award, teaches a popular elective course on project management that enrolled more than 100 graduate students last year. In January 2019, he began teaching project management in Fisher’s Executive MBA program.