ALOP-Colloquium with Laura Albert, University of Wisconsin-Madison

On Monday, June 14, 2021 at 16:00 c.t.  Prof. Dr. Laura Albert, University of Wisconsin-Madison will present her recent work at our colloquium.  She will speak on a very popular contemporary topic

Supporting academic researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

Abstract

The literature documents the many challenges faced by faculty from marginalized groups in terms of their hiring, retention, and advancement. The COVID-19 global pandemic has exasperated these inequities and has created serious challenges for many academic researchers, especially faculty members with care responsibilities and female academics. Recent surveys of academic researchers indicate that women, particularly those with young children, have experienced a substantial decline in time devoted to research in the past year. It is crucial for academic communities and institutions to address these inequalities to reduce faculty burnout and retain faculty members from underrepresented groups.

In this talk, Professor Laura Albert overview the challenges academics have faced during the pandemic. She will discuss some of the structural barriers for women academics and for academics with care responsibilities. She will give some examples from her own life and offer some guidance on best practices and institutional policies for those interested in creating spaces in operations research where everyone is welcomed and valued.

This presentation will take place via ZOOM. A link will be e-mailed prior to the event.

Bio

Laura Albert, Ph.D., is a Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and a Harvey D. Spangler Faculty Scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests are in the field of operations research, with a particular focus on discrete optimization with application to homeland security and emergency response problems. Dr. Albert’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Army, and Sandia National Laboratory. She has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications in archival journals and refereed proceedings. She has been awarded many honors for her research, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow Award, Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow Award, the INFORMS Impact Prize, four publication awards, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, a Fulbright Award, and a Department of the Army Young Investigator Award. She is a Department Editor for IISE Transactions and is on or has been on six other journal Editorial Boards. Dr. Albert has served on the INFORMS Board as the Vice President for Marketing, Communication, and Outreach and served as the Assistant Dean for Graduate Affairs in the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. She is the author of the blogs “Punk Rock Operations Research” and “Badger Bracketology.” You can find her on twitter at @lauraalbertphd.