John von Neumann Theory Prize

John von Neumann Theory Prize
John von Neumann Theory Prize
Awarded for	Fundamental, sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences
First awarded	1975
Website	John von Neumann Theory Prize

The John von Neumann Theory Prize of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is awarded annually to an individual (or sometimes a group) who has made fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.

The Prize named after mathematician John von Neumann is awarded for a body of work, rather than a single piece. The Prize was intended to reflect contributions that have stood the test of time. The criteria include significance, innovation, depth, and scientific excellence.

The award is $5,000, a medallion and a citation.

The Prize has been awarded since 1975. The first recipient was George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming.

List of recipients

2024 Jim Dai
2023 Christos Papadimitriou and Mihalis Yannakakis
2022 Vijay Vazirani
2021 Alexander Shapiro
2020 Adrian Lewis
2019 Dimitris Bertsimas and Jong-Shi Pang
2018 Dimitri Bertsekas and John Tsitsiklis
- for contributions to Parallel and Distributed Computation as well as Neurodynamic Programming.
2017 Donald Goldfarb and Jorge Nocedal
- for seminal contributions to the theory and applications of nonlinear optimization over the past several decades.
2016 Martin I. Reiman and Ruth J. Williams
- for seminal research contributions over the past several decades, to the theory and applications of “stochastic networks/systems” and their “heavy traffic approximations.”
2015 Vašek Chvátal and Jean Bernard Lasserre
- for seminal and profound contributions to the theoretical foundations of optimization.
2014 Nimrod Megiddo
- for fundamental contributions across a broad range of areas of operations research and management science, most notably in linear programming, combinatorial optimization, and algorithmic game theory.
2013 Michel Balinski
2012 George Nemhauser and Laurence Wolsey^[1]
2011 Gérard Cornuéjols, IBM University Professor of Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business
- for his fundamental and broad contributions to discrete optimization including his deep research on balanced and ideal matrices, perfect graphs and cutting planes for mixed-integer optimization.
2010 Søren Asmussen and Peter W. Glynn
2009 Yurii Nesterov and Yinyu Ye
2008 Frank Kelly
2007 Arthur F. Veinott, Jr.
- for his profound contributions to three major areas of operations research and management science: inventory theory, dynamic programming and lattice programming.
2006 Martin Grötschel, László Lovász and Alexander Schrijver
- for their fundamental path-breaking work in combinatorial optimization.
2005 Robert J. Aumann
- in recognition of his fundamental contributions to game theory and related areas
2004 J. Michael Harrison
- for his profound contributions to two major areas of operations research and management science: stochastic networks and mathematical finance.
2003 Arkadi Nemirovski and Michael J. Todd
- for their seminal and profound contributions in continuous optimization.
2002 Donald L. Iglehart and Cyrus Derman
- for their fundamental contributions to performance analysis and optimization of stochastic systems
2001 Ward Whitt
- for his contributions to queueing theory, applied probability and stochastic modelling
2000 Ellis L. Johnson and Manfred W. Padberg
1999 R. Tyrrell Rockafellar
1998 Fred W. Glover
1997 Peter Whittle
1996 Peter C. Fishburn
1995 Egon Balas
1994 Lajos Takacs
1993 Robert Herman
1992 Alan J. Hoffman and Philip Wolfe
1991 Richard E. Barlow and Frank Proschan
1990 Richard Karp
1989 Harry M. Markowitz
1988 Herbert A. Simon
1987 Samuel Karlin
1986 Kenneth J. Arrow
1985 Jack Edmonds
1984 Ralph Gomory
1983 Herbert Scarf
1982 Abraham Charnes, William W. Cooper, and Richard J. Duffin
1981 Lloyd Shapley
1980 David Gale, Harold W. Kuhn, and Albert W. Tucker
1979 David Blackwell
1978 John F. Nash and Carlton E. Lemke
1977 Felix Pollaczek
1976 Richard Bellman
1975 George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming