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Thought-Provoking Commentary from Business and University Leaders
Christopher B. Lofgren
President & CEO
Schneider National, Inc.
The revolution in computing and communication technology has given us access to more data and more opportunities to deploy analytical methodology and techniques within the operations of a business than ever before – from pricing to scheduling activities to the analysis of effectiveness measures. But insight achieved, both from the modeling process, as well as sensitivity analysis, is still the most impactful benefit derived from the applications of these disciplines. In this opening plenary, Christopher Lofgren will highlight the importance of analytical techniques to executive decision-making, and recommend a number of important considerations that will allow the practitioner and the techniques to more effectively influence the key decisions of a corporation.
Christopher Lofgren is President and CEO of Schneider National, Inc., a provider of transportation and logistics solutions and the largest truckload carrier in North America. Dr. Lofgren joined Schneider in 1994 as a Vice President and has served as Chief Information Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before joining Schneider, he held positions at Symantec, Motorola and CAPS Logistics. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech, and the Board of Directors of the American Trucking Association. Dr. Lofgren holds BS and MS degrees in industrial and management engineering from Montana State, and a PhD in industrial and systems engineering from Georgia Tech.
Edward H. Kaplan
William N. and Marie A. Beach Professor of Management Sciences, Yale School of Management
Professor of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine
Professor of Engineering, Yale Faculty of Engineering
Policy Modeling refers to the application of operations research, statistics and other quantitative methods to policy problems. Recognizing that analyses of all sorts often exhibit diminishing returns in effort, the hope is to capture key features of various policy issues with relatively simple “first-strike” models. Problem selection and formulation compete with solution methods in determining successful applications: where do good problems come from? How can analysts tell if a particular issue is worth pursuing? Edward Kaplan will review some personal adventures in policy modeling involving HIV/AIDS prevention, bioterror preparedness, suicide bombings, predicting presidential elections, and March Madness.
An elected member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine of the US National Academies, Edward Kaplan is Professor of Management Sciences, Public Health and Engineering at Yale. His research has been reported on the front pages of the New York Times, editorialized in the Wall Street Journal, and discussed between the covers of Time, Newsweek, Consumer Reports and other media. The author of more than 100 research articles, Dr. Kaplan has received both the Lanchester Prize and the Edelman Award, two top honors in operations research. He has also twice been awarded the prestigious Lady Davis Visiting Professorship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he has investigated AIDS policy issues facing the State of Israel. He also served on the Institute of Medicine’s committee on HIV prevention strategies. Dr. Kaplan is an expert in OR and statistics who has developed novel methods for quantitatively evaluating HIV intervention programs.
Plus! A Reprise of the 2008 Edelman Competition Winner
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