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It was my pleasure to serve as chairman of the 27th annual competition for the Franz Edelman Award for Management Science Achievement. The competition is sponsored jointly by INFORMS and its practice section, the College for the Practice of the Management Sciences (CPMS).
The primary purpose of the competition is to recognize outstanding accomplishments in the practice of our profession. The prizes recognize verifiable results that had a major impact on the client organization. The awards are given to both the client organization, which receives the award citation, and the individuals producing the work, who receive the cash awards. This year, the prize money totaled $15,000 with $10,000 going to the first prize winner. More important, all prize winners have the honor of knowing their work has been recognized by their peers as the best in the business.
This year's competition continues a tradition of spotlighting excellence in management science practice that goes back to the first award in 1972 when the winner received a grand total of $200. The seven finalists in this year's competition have all demonstrated their commitment to practice excellence.
In addition to having their efforts described in this special issue of Interfaces, six finalists will have their presentations added to the Edelman Prize videotape collection.
The award is named in honor of Franz Edelman. Dr. Edelman was responsible for management sciences at RCA, one of the earliest industrial OR/MS activities in North America. He worked for 30 years at RCA and is counted among the fathers of innovation in management science.
The prize competition began with a call for nominations in mid-1997. Approximately 40 entries were submitted. These were reviewed by an award committee that selected the most noteworthy for careful verification. After a comprehensive review, the committee chose seven finalists to give presentations in an all-day session held in conjunction with the Montreal CORS-INFORMS joint meeting in May 1998.
Each finalist had a coach to help with preparation. I would like to thank Anthony Brigandi, Russ Labe, Lynne McCullough, Peter Norden, Subba-Rao, William Stripling, and Al Williams for serving as coaches for the contestants.
Immediately after the presentations, the judges began their deliberations, which went on until they determined the awards. I would like to recognize those who joined...