Julie Simmons Ivy, Ph.D., is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. Dr. Ivy is also the Edgar S. Woolard Professor Emerita of the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University. She has extensive background in decision making under conditions of uncertainty using stochastic and statistical modeling. She joined the University of Michigan faculty after 16 years on the NC State faculty and several years on the faculty of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Dr. Ivy received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial and Operations Engineering from the University of Michigan. She also received her M.S. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech. Dr. Ivy’s research seeks to model complex interactions and quantitatively capture the impact of different factors, objectives, system dynamics, intervention options and policies on outcomes with the goal of improving decision quality. In particular, Dr. Ivy develops and applies systems science methods, including the analysis and modeling of large data sets, simulation modeling, decision theory, and stochastic modeling including Markov decision processes and partially observable Markov decision processes, to improve hunger relief and health decision making. This research has made an impact on how researchers and practitioners address complex societal issues, such as health disparities, public health preparedness, hunger relief, student performance, and personalized medical decision-making and has been funded by the CDC, NSF, and NIH.
Dr. Ivy is an active member of the Institute of Operations Research and Management Science (INFORMS), Dr. Ivy served as the 2007 Chair (President) of the INFORMS Health Applications Society and the 2012 – 13 President for the INFORMS Minority Issues Forum. Dr. Ivy was elected as a 2022 INFORMS Fellow and as a 2023 Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers (IISE) Fellow. In February 2023, Dr. Ivy was nominated to the National Academies Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics (BMSA). Dr. Ivy’s service has focused on empowering women of color and underrepresented minorities in IE, OR, and STEM through INFORMS Minority Issues Forum (MIF), NSF ADVANCE grants, and various workshops supporting the professional development of minority graduate students, faculty, and working professionals over the past 25+ years. She was selected as an inaugural INFORMS 2021 MIF Fellow and as a 2020 and 2021 INFORMS DEI Ambassador. She received the INFORMS 2020 WORMS Award for the Advancement of Women in OR/MS.
