OR Faculty Awarded Distinguished Civilian Service Awards

Distinguished Professors Don Gaver, Gerry Brown and Al Washburn were showered with praise as each of the eminent Operations Research practitioners was presented the Distinguished Civilian Service award in a ceremony held on the Herrmann Hall Quarterdeck, Nov. 3.

Professor Gaver  was recognized for sustained achievements since August 1970. His invention of an efficient numerical inversion of the Laplace Transform is a basic tool used throughout science and engineering. Professor Brown’s research on attacker-defender models is changing how the Department of Homeland Security thinks about defense against terrorists. Professor Washburn’s research results in applied probability, search and detection, optimization, combat models, game theory and undersea warfare have been applied by all of the uniformed services.

All three have been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering as lifetime members, quite likely the highest professional distinction an engineer in the U.S. can receive. Together their cumulative time in service to the nation and NPS is 111 years. Congratulations, gentlemen!