Harold Larnder Prize |
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| Description |
| Harold Larnder Prize Winner |
| Previous Recipients |
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Description |
The Harold Larnder Prize is awarded annually to an individual who has achieved international distinction in operational research. The prize winner delivers the Harold Larnder Memorial Lecture, on a topic of general interest to Operational Research, at the National Conference of the Canadian Operational Research Society. |
Harold Larnder was a well-known Canadian in wartime OR. He played a major part in the development of an effective, radar-based, air defence system during the Battle of Britain. He returned to Canada in 1951 to join the Canadian Defence Research Board and was President of CORS in 1966-67. |
2010 Harold Larnder Prize Winner | (Top) |
John D.C. Little,Institute Professor, Professor of Management Science
Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
John D.C. Little is an Institute Professor at MIT and Professor of Management Science in the MIT Sloan School, where he is in the marketing group. He describes himself as “a model builder and number cruncher.” Since the 1960s he has been publishing papers on marketing topics such as media models, adaptive control, the marketing mix, decision calculus, decision support systems, aggregate advertising models, and brand choice. He has been honored through the “John D.C. Little Award,” which is given for the best marketing paper published each year in an INFORMS journal. |
Little graduated with an SB in physics from MIT and after a brief hiatus returned to do a PhD. He ended up taking exams in physics and doing a thesis in operations research under physicist and WWII OR pioneer Philip Morse. Little is considered to be the first OR PhD anywhere. |
In the early years after his PhD, Little published on various OR/MS topics, including papers on optimization, queuing, and traffic signal control. In optimization he co-authored a paper on the traveling salesman problem that coined the term “branch and bound.” In queuing he is known for “Little’s Law.” |
Arguing against G.B. Shaw's assertion that “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches,” Little co-founded two successful companies that put academic OR/MS into practice. He also published papers about the work in top journals. He feels this made him a far better teacher of OR/MS. |
Little has been active in professional societies. He was the first president of INFORMS, having chaired the committee that planned the merger of the previous societies, TIMS and ORSA, and having been president of each of the latter. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering. |
John Little (r) accepting the Larnder Award from Armann Ingolfsson.
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Previous Recipients | (Top) |
2009 |
Steve Gallivan |
2008 |
Thomas L. Magnanti |
2007 |
Edward A. Silver |
2006 |
Ralph E. Gomory |
2005 |
Sven Axsater |
2004 |
Richard C. Larson |
2003 |
Hau L. Lee |
2002 |
Arthur Geoffrion |
2001 |
Ward Whitt |
2000 |
Andres Weintraub |
1999 |
Harvey J. Greenberg |
1998 |
Paolo Toth |
1997 |
George B. Dantzig |
1996 |
Jan Karel Lenstra |
1995 |
Allan Manne |
1994 |
Ailsa Land |
1993 |
William Pierskalla |
1992 |
Brian Haley |
1991 |
Jacques Lesourne |
1990 |
Hugh Miser |
1989 |
Abraham Charnes |
1988 |
Harvey Wagner |
1987 |
Patrick Rivett |
1986 |
Eugene Woolsey |
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