Golbon Zakeri Selected as Inaugural Editor of New INFORMS-Springer Book Series

Golbon Zakeri, a professor in the mechanical and industrial engineering department, has been selected by Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) as the inaugural editor of its new INFORMS-Springer book series. Zakeri’s first term started on Jan. 1, 2022, and runs through Dec. 31, 2024.

Image

As Zakeri explains about the new book series, “Springer has had a history of publishing a wide range of scientific and mathematical manuscripts. This new series emphasizes work carried out in the disciplines of operations research, financial engineering, management science, and data science (where Springer already has established book series).”

As the INFORMS website explains, “INFORMS is home to a diverse collection of academic and industry experts in fields including operations research, analytics, management science, economics, behavioral science, statistics, artificial intelligence, data science, applied mathematics and more. Although our members' work is often highly complex, we are unified under a simple, shared mission: Advance and promote the science and technology of decision making to save lives, save money, and solve problems.”

Zakeri’s research interests are analytics, economics and optimization under uncertainty with particular application to the electricity sector. Her doctorate in computer sciences and mathematics is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her B.S. in mathematics is from Iowa State University.

Prior to coming to UMass in 2019, Zakeri was an associate professor at the University of Auckland department of engineering science in New Zealand and, before that, a senior lecturer in that same department from 2000 to 2017. During that time, she also served twice as a visiting professor at the University of California Berkeley department of industrial engineering and operations research. In addition, from 1998 to 2000, she was a senior research associate at the Argonne National Laboratory in the division of mathematics and computer sciences. Zakeri has held several important leadership roles, including serving as the president of the Operations Research Society of New Zealand from 2013 to 2017, the branch chair of the Auckland Chapter of the Operations Research Society of New Zealand from 2009 to 2013, the director of the Electric Power Optimization Centre from 2009 to 2019, and the deputy director of the University of Auckland Energy Centre from 2010 to 2019.

Among Zakeri’s many funded research projects are two recent ones from the National Science Foundation (NSF). She is one of four co-principal investigators (PIs) with PI Matthew A. Lackner of the MIE department on a $2.7-million NSF Research Trainee Program for “Enhancing Resiliency and Equity in Energy Transitions.” She is also one of the senior personnel on a $3.6-million NSF Convergence Research Program titled “Social and Economic Equity in Energy Transition,” in which Lackner is also the PI.

Zakeri has published more than 60 refereed journal papers, invited refereed book chapters, conference papers, edited volumes, and submissions to government and commissioned reports.