Telesilla Kotsi

Telesilla Kotsi is an assistant professor of operations management at the Fisher College of Business. She joined the Management Sciences department after receiving her PhD from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. Telesilla combines field research with rigorous analytical methods to study challenges that nonprofit organizations face. For example, in her current work, she uses game theory, dynamic programming, and econometrics.

Nonprofit operations management is an important area of research, given the nonprofits’ contribution to the US economy is larger than the individual contributions in all but three states. “Nonprofits must provide good and services to their beneficiaries in a timely, equitable, and efficient manner, while ensuring they do “no harm” to other stakeholders, and responding to their donors’ pressures for accountability and transparency,” Telesilla says. Therefore, her primary research interest centres on how allocation of resources (cash, assets, personnel, etc.) affect a nonprofit’s own performance and services provided to its beneficiaries. 

To understand the unique challenges faced by nonprofits, Telesilla has spent time to visit refugee camps in Greece, interview managers at foodbanks in USA, and analyze transportation and personnel data collected by a large humanitarian organization that operates worldwide.

Prior coming to the US for pursuing her doctoral studies, Telesilla worked at INSEAD Humanitarian Research Group as a Research Assistant and received a MSc in Operations Research with Computational Optimization from the University of Edinburgh in the UK. Her BSC Degree is on Mechanical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece.

Awards

• Poets and Quants Best 40 Under 40 Professors, 2024
• Finalist for the Panschar Associate Instructor Award, Operations and Decision Technologies, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2018
• Doctoral Student Research Productivity Award, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Bloomington, 2017
• Dean's Fellowship, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2014
• Onasis scholarship for hellenes studying broad by the Onasis Foundation, Greece, 2014-2019
• Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Bursary by the School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, 2011-2012 
• M&SOM Society Award for Responsible Research in Operations Management. Honorable Mention. (2022).
• Elwood S. Buffa Doctoral Dissertation Award, Decision Sciences Institute. (2021).

Published Research

• Kotsi, T. O., Aflaki, A., Aydin, G., Pedraza-Martinez, A. J. 2024. Allocation of Nonprofit Funds Among Program, Fundraising, and Administration. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management 25(5):1873-1889.
• Kotsi, T. O., Lowrey, J. 2023.  Beneficiary-Centric Approaches in Humanitarian Operations (Book Chapter). In press.
• Kotsi, T. O., Wu, O., Pedraza-Martinez, A. J. (2022). Donations for the Refugee Crisis: In-kind Versus Cash Assistance. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2021.1073.

• PhD., Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University 
  • Double Major: Operations Management and Decision Sciences
  • Dissertation title: "Essays on Resource Allocation Decisions of Nonprofits"
  • Committee: A.J. Pedraza-Martinez (Chair), O. Wu, K. Bretthauer, L. Yan
• M.Bus., Operations Management, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
• MSc., Operations Research with Computational Optimization (distinction) 
  • School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
• Diploma Mechanical Engineering (5-year degree, highest GPA) 
  • Faculty of Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

• Kotsi, T., Chu, S.H., and Hill, J. “Surplus Medicine Donations CSR-SC Coordination". Ongoing Analysis.
• Kotsi, T., Besiou, M., and Pedraza-Martinez, A.J. “Armed Conflicts and Natural Disasters effect on Humanitarian Fleet Management". Ongoing Analysis.