Doctoral student recognized for outstanding service

Recognizing her outstanding service in the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Auburn student chapter, Madison Evans, a doctoral student studying industrial and systems engineering, was recently awarded the INFORMS Judith Liebman Award.

Madison Evans, a doctoral student in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was recently awarded the INFORMS Judith Liebman Award for the Auburn student chapter. INFORMS stands for the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences, and the Judith Liebman Award was established to recognize outstanding student volunteers moving spirits in their universities, their student chapters and the institute.

The Judith Liebman Award was established to recognize outstanding student volunteers moving spirits in their universities, their student chapters, and the institute. Liebman served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Operations Research Society of America for 11 years, as secretary, vice president, president and past president.

Evans was one of two winners this year and the first Auburn University student recipient of the award.

Aleksandr Vinel, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and INFORMS chapter advisor, said it was his great pleasure to nominate Evans for the award.

“She started with the chapter in fall of 2021, a difficult time for all of higher education, including Auburn,” he said. “Her passion and leadership were instrumental in the process of ensuring that the chapter was able to successfully and safely navigate the transition back to in-person events. Our activities are well-attended and serve as a source of professional development and an informal meeting place for the Auburn operations research/management science community, and Madison is a big reason for the chapter’s continued record for excellence.”

Evans graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from Auburn in 2020. She began the doctoral program soon after. She was also recently awarded the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering’s 100+ Women Strong Outstanding Departmental Annual Graduate Award.

“I am so honored to have won this award,” Evans said. “It is validating to have your work recognized by the national organization that our chapter represents. This award would not have been possible without the hard work of all the other officers who have served with me over the past two years, as well as the hard work of our great faculty advisor. I look forward to finishing this year strong and continuing to plan fun and educational events for the students in the department.”