Reflections from an academic entrepreneur

Abstract

As well as being an educator and researcher, I have spent much of my career designing, initiating and leading academic programmes.  These include being the founding President of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), being the first Director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for  Research and Technology (SMART) and at MIT being the Dean of Engineering, Co-Director of the Operations Research Center, and designing and leading several programs. I have also served as editor of a leading journal and president of three professional societies. I will try to describe why I have been engaged in these activities and the approaches and culture that has guided me throughout these initiatives.

Speaker’s profile

Thomas Magnanti is one of nine Institute Professors at MIT and President Emeritus of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD). He was formerly Dean of the MIT School of Engineering and head of the Management Science area of the MIT Sloan School of Management. At MIT he was founding Co-director of the Leaders for Manufacturing and Systems Design and Management Programs, founding Director of the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), and Co-director of the Operations Research Center.

Professor Magnanti has devoted much of his professional career to technical and management education, and to teaching and research in applied and theoretical aspects of large-scale optimisation. His publications include co-authorship of two textbooks, Applied Mathematical Programming and Network Flows: Theory, Algorithms and Applications.

Professor Magnanti holds a BS in chemical engineering from Syracuse University and an MS in statistics, MS in mathematics, and PhD in operations research from Stanford University. He has served as President of three professional societies and has been editor of a major journal (Operations Research). He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, the Academy of Engineering Singapore, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and holds five honorary degrees.

For more information about the ESD Seminar, please email esd_invite@sutd.edu.sg