Awards

Many members of ISIR have significantly advanced the goals of the organization through their general contributions to knowledge, the formation of professionals, the promotion of international cooperation and/or exemplary practice. In effort to recognize such individuals who have advanced the goals of ISIR through contributions to the profession and service to the organization the Society founded a Fellows program in 1996. New Fellows are announced at the International Symposia.

2022

Ruud Teunter, University of Groningen, The Netherlands


2018

Geert-Jan van Houtum, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands


2016

Stefan Minner, Technische Universität München, Germany


2014

Ton de Kok, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

Ton de Kok’s academic career is highly devoted to inventory control. After a mathematics study at the University of Leiden he embarked on a PhD project on Production-inventory control models on which he got his PhD in 1985. Thereafter he started working at the Center for Quantitative Methods (CQM), a consulting company on inventory control within the Philips Company. After 5 years he moved to Philips Consumer Electronics, but Ton got more and more interested in research and he moved to the Technical University of Eindhoven, first as part-time and later as full professor in Operations Management in 1992. Since that time he has written over 75 papers in international scientific journals, supervised many PhD students, most on inventory control. In 2004 he was Edelman Award Finalist as member of the Philips Semiconductors team and in 2006 he received ISIR’s Service Award. Ton’s most known contribution is on multi-echelon inventory systems, where he developed new evaluation and optimization methods. Finally, Ton also started a company, called Chainscope, where he is presently CTO. So all in all a very varied career, but in almost all his endeavours inventories played an important role.

2012

Linda Sprague, Rollins College, USA
was the Thomas J. Petters Distinguished Professor of International Business at Rollins College. She previously served as professor of manufacturing and operations management at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. She served on the faculties of Cranfield University (UK), the University of New Hampshire, Stanford University, IMD (Switzerland), Amos Tuck School and IESE (Spain). In 1980, Sprague was a founding professor at the National Center for Industrial Science and Technology Management Development at Dalian, China.

Dr. Sprague received her doctorate in Production/Operations Management from the Harvard Business School. She held an MBA from Boston University and an SB from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She is a Fellow of the Decision Sciences, a Fellow of the Institute for Operations (UK) and is a Certified Practitioner in Inventory Management. Dr. Sprague was an Associate Editor of the Decision Sciences Journal, a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Operations Management, and a Founding Member of the Global Manufacturing Research Group. In August 2003, Dr. Sprague was named an Operations Management Distinguished Scholar by the Operations Management Division of the Academy of Management.

She served on the Executive Committee of ISIR as Chair of the Inventory Management section between 1998-2004, President-Elect between 2004-2006 and President between 2006 and 2008.

She was a co-editor of the publication ” Reflections on Firm and National Inventories (Workshop on Micro Foundations of Macroeconomic Analysis of Inventories, 1994″ Chikán, A-Milne, A – Sprague, L.G (eds), ISIR 1996, Budapest

Rommert Dekker, Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam,The Netherlands

Professor of Econometrics (Operations Research and Informatics)
Rommert Dekker is a full-time professor of Operations Research, Quantitative Logistics and IT at the Erasmus School of Economics. He published over 100 papers in logistics, varying from reverse logistics, service logistics, inventory control, maintenance optimization to container logistics and transport optimization. He was co-founder of the well-known network for reverse logistics REVLOG. Presently he is leading an industry sponsored research program on service logistics. He won several prizes, including ERIM’s impact award and the OR Society’s Goodeeve medal for best applied paper. Rommert combines practice with sound mathematical modelling. The combination of rigor and pragmatic considerations in his papers over the years are really impressive. He has been a regular participant of the ISIR Symposia and acted in several roles in the ISIR’s community.

2010

Attila Chikán

Prof. Chikán has been named a Fellow of ISIR for a number of reasons.  First and foremost are his contributions to the organization.  As founder of ISIR he realized his vision of international scholarly collaboration, enriching the research and lives of many colleagues.  As First Vice President and Secretary General, his leadership has sustained the life of the organization and provided great value to its members.   Prof. Chikán?s role in mentoring and developing students and colleagues alike extends far beyond his role in ISIR.  From the creation of a college to broaden and deepen the experience of university students to his collaboration with colleagues in research and publication, he has shared his knowledge, contacts, insights and time.  His influence has been felt from the classroom to the boardroom in government and in business.

The intellectual contributions of Prof. Chikán are significant as well.  His publications number in the hundreds.  His books and articles have influenced academics and practitioners alike.  Especially noteworthy is the interdisciplinary nature of his work.  By incorporating micro and macro views of economic phenomena, Prof. Chikán crosses boundaries to provide much deeper understanding of system behavior. Similarly, his melding of mathematical modeling and organizational behavior also enriches his insights.  His results don?t remain in academia.  They are incorporated into practice through seminars and workshops, Prof. Chikán?s consulting and his board memberships.  It is for his service to ISIR, mentoring of individuals, influence on the field and contributions to practice that Prof. Chikán is named Fellow of ISIR.

2008

Jacob Wijngaard, University of Groningen, The Netherlands

2006

Henk Zijm, University of Twente, The Netherlands

Rector of the University of Twente, The Netherlands had been named Fellow of the International Society for Inventory Research. This honor was bestowed for:
1. His important influence on inventory theory and management through his research, publications and professional presentations on production planning, inventory control, multi-echelon systems and flexible manufacturing issues.
2. His fostering of the development of colleagues and students by collaborating on research projects, supervising PhD. theses, publishing research findings jointly and in his administrative roles at the University of Twente.
3. His major contributions to practice with his work at Philips Electronics, consulting engagements and management seminars.
4. His support of the development of professional practice in research and application by taking leadership roles in academic and professional societies and, especially, for his service to ISIR where he has been an active presenter, has chaired individual sessions and is a member of the Executive Committee.

2004

Louis Maccini
, The Johns Hopkins University, USA
Louis J. Maccini is by far the most active economist of his generation in the area of inventory research. He has contributed to our understanding of the linkages between inventory investment and pricing policy, adjustment costs, multi-period labor contracts, layoff behavior, production volatility interest rates, and so much more. While the Social Science Citation Index reports that his contributions have been cited more than 288 times, this is an understatement of his contribution to our discipline for he has inspired a cadre of graduate students at Johns Hopkins to focus their research on inventory behavior.

D. Clay Whybark
, University of North Carolina, USA
D. Clay Whybark is one of the most respected scholars world-wide in Production and Inventory Management (or Operations Management).
His works are standard references in academic publications and study materials in business education. His main strength is in an open, broad-minded approach to any problems and the close link he maintains between academic rigor and practicalities. He has been involved in the activity of ISIR in the past twenty years and served the Society in numerous roles, including President in 2000-2002. During the years he made many successful initiatives regarding ISIR?s operations.

2002

Sven Axsäter
(Sweden)
He was President of ISIR between 1996 and 1998. He has been very active in the Society since its very foundation and his academic achievements are recognized worldwide. His results in multi-echelon inventory models are well known and frequently cited in leading journals.

Maurice C. Bonney
(United Kingdom)
He was President of ISIR between 2000 and 2002. He has been very active in the Society since its very foundation and his academic achievements are recognized worldwide. His papers on production-inventory systems are well known and frequently cited in leading journals.

2000

Hans-Joachim Girlich
(Germany)
He has been a leading scholar in inventory modelling for many years, he is especially well known for his work on stochastic models, including reliability-type systems. He has been a regular participant of the ISIR Symposia since the very first one in 1980. He hold the position of Section Chairman of the Mathematical Modelling Section and he was the organizer of the very first ISIR Summer School on Inventory Modelling.

Edward A. Silver
(Canada)He is one of the most cited authors ever in inventory management. Besides his well known and classical book with Rein Peterson (“Decision Systems for Inventory Management and Production Planning”) he wrote numerous articles which greatly influenced the development of our research area. Most notably, the Silver-Meal algorythm is one of the fundamentals of inventory management. Ed has been a participant of many ISIR meeting and he was the President of our Society in 1994-1996.

1998
After many years of preparations and 16 years of operation at the Banquet of the TENTH ISIR Symposium the Society announced the list of the first FELLOWS of ISIR. These personalities have both been actively involved in the operation of the organization and significantly contributed to the worldwide knowledge on inventories and the formation of professionals.

Ekaterina Bulinskaya (Russia): was the author of some very early, high level papers on stochastic inventory theory (first already in 1964). Since then she has written a series of extremely valuable and high level papers on the subject. Having overcome a number of difficulties she is one of the most regular participants of the ISIR Symposia. She served in a number of roles, including repeated EC membership.


Andrew Clark (USA):
was one of the main contributors to the now famous “Stanford Studies”, the author of some of the most fundamental papers on multi-echelon theory. He attended almost all ISIR Symposia and served in several roles (chairman, referee, etc.).

Robert W. Grubbström
(Sweden): has published a number of papers of various aspects of inventory theory, especially regarding the use of control theory, the annuity stream principle, and the theory of MRP. He attended all the 10 Symposia and was President between 1990 and 1992. He held various other offices throughout the history of ISIR. Manages the publication of the Proceedings of the Symposia and plays a great role in getting young researchers to ISIR and its Symposia.

Michael C. Lovell
(USA): has published a number of fundamental papers since his seminal work in 1961 on Manufacturers Inventories Sales Expectations and the Acceleration Principle. Most recently his works on the development of the economics of inventories are of great importance. He participated in 8 of the 10 Symposia; served as President 1992-1994, Chairman of the Economics Section for many years. He organized the largest North American conference of ISIR in 1984, manages the annual ISIR sessions of the Allied Social Sciences Associations meetings.

Andrew Z. Szendrovits
(Canada): wrote a large number of inventory related papers in the most respected journals (MS, OR etc.) and made especially important contributions to the integration of inventory problems with those of production and logistics. Attended six of the 10 Symposia and played special role in helping the development of young researchers. He served in several roles in ISIR, including membership in the EC.

ISIR depends upon the goodwill and expertise of those people who volenteer their time to promote the goals of the organization. Many of these people have performed invaluable service over a number of years both in official roles and in providing help whenever needed. In order to recognize the outstanding contributions to the operation of the Society ISIR has created a meritorious service award. Recipients of the award are publicly recognized at the International Symposium. Prior to each symposium he Secretary General prepares a list of potential recepients based on the received nomination lists. The Executive Committee determines if there is to be an award, if so, who will receive it.

2022

The 2022 Service Award went to

Joachim Arts, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

Robert Boute, KU Leuven, Belgium

Gudrun Kiesmüller, Technical University of Munich, Germany

2018

The 2018 Service Award went to

†Johannes Fichtinger, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria

Aris Syntetos, Cardiff University, UK

Yacine Rekik, EMLYON Business School, France

2016

The 2016 Service Award went to

Avijit Banerjee, Drexel University, USA

Hiroaki Ishii, Osaka University, Japan

Sandra Transchel, Kuehne Logistics University, Germany

2014

The 2014 Service Award went to

Gerald Reiner, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland

Soren Glud Johansen, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Soren Glud Johansen, University of Aarhus, Denmark


2012

The 2012 Service Award went to

Refik Güllü, Bogazici University, Turkey

Geert-Jan van Houtum, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands


2010

The 2010 Service Award went to

Karl Inderfurth (University of Magdeburg, Germany) has been a regular participant of the Symposium since 1994. He was a member of the Executive Committee for two terms between 1994 and 2002. He has been instrumental in helping the succcessful operation of ISIR in several ways, including presentations, chairmanship and refereeing.

Imre Dobos (Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary) attended his first symposium in 1988. Ever since then he has been providing invaluable assistance in every possible ways to ISIR: as speaker, session chairman, organizer, referee etc. We can always rely on him, when some high quality job must be made with real urgency.

2008

The 2008 Service Award went to

Owen Irvine, Michigan State University, USA

Lucio Zavanella, Universitá degli Studi di Brescia, Italy


2006

The 2006 Service Award went to

Stefan Minner, University of Mannheim, Germany. Has been an attendant of a number of ISIR symposia. He has done a lot for increasing the visibility of ISIR and served in several functions (referee, chairman etc.). Organized and managed a highly successful ISIR Summer School in Mannheim, 2005.

Timo Pirttilä, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. Has been an attendant of the ISIR symposia from the very beginning. He was a member of the ISIR EC in two terms. He has been very active in maintaining a strong Finnish participation at the Symposia by bringing his students and other colleagues to the meetings.

2004

The 2004 Service Award went to

Danuta Kisperska-Moron and Ton de Kok

University of Economics, Poland -Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

It was the fifth time that ISIR, in order to recognize the considerable contributions of some colleagues to ISIR over a number of years, presented Service Awards at the Banquet of the 2004 Symposium to two ISIR members. Their ISIR careers are rather similar: Both colleagues have been active in ISIR for many years, served or serve in the Executive Committee and have played key roles in the ISIR Symposia and other events and fields of operation.

2002

The 2002 Service Award went to

Roger M. Hill (United Kingdom): He attended the ISIR Symposium first in 1990 and since then he has been regular participant, speaker, referee, chairman. He organized the Fourth ISIR Summer School in Exeter in 1999 with great success and edited the proceedings of the school. He is an esteemed member of the ISIR community and helps spreading the fame and good principles of our Society.

Sotirios Papachristos (Greece): He attended the ISIR Symposium first in 1990 and since then he has been regular participant, speaker, referee, chairman. He organized the Third ISIR Summer School in Ioannina in 1997 with great success and edited the proceedings of the school. He is an esteemed member of the ISIR community and helps spreading the fame and good principles of our Society.

2000

The 2000 Service Award went to

Sven Axsäter (Sweden): He has participated in almost all ISIR Symposia, serving as Speaker, Chairman, Referee every time. It can be also said regardingthe ISIR Summer Schools. He was president 1996-1998. He has brought a large number of his students to the meetings.

Moheb Ghali (USA): He was participant of the very first ISIR Symposium in 1980 and since then he has been present at almost all occasions. He has served as Speaker, Chairman, Referee every time. He was also a speaker at the ISIR Summer Schools. He has been on the Executive Committee in several terms. He has organized a successful inventory session at the ASSA Meetings.

1998

The 1998 Service Award went to

Marija and Ludvig Bogataj (Slovenia), who were regular participants of the ISIR Symposia, with high level papers. They organized a successful ISIR Summer School, followed with a two volume publication. Served as chairpersons, referees at most Symposia.

Hans-Joachim Girlich (Germany), who was regular participant of the ISIR Symposia, always with remarkable papers. He was the initiator of the ISIR Summer Schools and organizer of the first such school. He held various offices in ISIR, including EC membership.

Edward A. Silver (Canada), who was a frequent participant of ISIR Symposia.

He served as President 1994-96, President-Elect 1992-94, Immediate Past President 1996-98.

1996

The award was first presented in 1996 and went to

Robert W. Grubbström (Sweden), who was ISIR President in 1990-1992. He has established and maintained contact with Elsevier, making it possible to publish the Proceedings of the Symposia. He participated in all Symposia and ISIR Summer Schools.

Peter Kelle (Hungary & USA), who was extremely helpful in starting and maintaining the operation of the Secretariat in Budapest. He has been during the years probably the most active volunteer helping in everyday matters. He was on the local organizing committee of most Symposia and attended seven of them.

Michael C. Lovell (USA), who was ISIR President in 1992-1994. He did a tremendous job in advertising ISIR in the USA and among fellow economists all over the world. He has organized an ISIR conference in honour of Tom Whitin in 1987 and arranged a whole series of annual ISIR sessions at the Allied Social Science Associations Meetings.

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