Students, faculty, and staff come to MS&E for many reasons and bring with them varied backgrounds and experiences. In this issue of the MS&E Newsletter, you’ll find a sample of stories that celebrate our community members and their journeys, as well as recent awards and recognition.
Explore articles, videos, and more in this issue of the MS&E Newsletter.
Our lead story: Celebrating Stanford programs
PhD student Ramesh Manian (left) and master’s student Monica Tavassoli | Photos courtesy of Stanford WTO and Together Program
When you think of academic programs, your first thought might be of full-time, in-person bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. However, there are many other programs at Stanford that empower students from varied backgrounds to not just participate but thrive in their studies.
For example, MS&E PhD student Ramesh Manian is a believer in lifelong learning. While working full time as a project manager at Microsoft, he earned his master’s in MS&E thanks to the Honors Cooperative Program (HCP). The program recently celebrated its 70th year of empowering industry professionals to continue their education. Watch Manian tell his story and learn from others’ experiences in the program.
MS&E master’s student Monica Tavassoli became the first person from her high school to gain acceptance to Stanford in fall of 2018. Before she started her degree, she completed the Stanford Summer Engineering Academy (SSEA), a program designed to support first-year students as they acclimate to life at Stanford. Learn how the SSEA has helped Tavassoli and others.
Faculty retirement
James Sweeney retires after 53 years of powering a sustainable future
(left to right) Ron Howard, Tyler Kim, Margaret Wright, Shmuel Oren, and Duru Ahanotu | Photos courtesy of Stanford Engineering, LinkedIn, Wikipedia, and UC Berkeley
#OnTheShouldersOfGiants: As we look forward to our 25th anniversary celebration on May 2, we look back on our past to celebrate those who have made MS&E the special place it is today. Hear some of their stories as part of Stanford and INFORMS oral history projects below:
In a 2014 interview, then-professor Ron Howard shared stories of his early days as a pioneer of decision analysis, incorporating ethics into his teaching, and turning theory into practice.
Tyler Kim (BS ’94) describes his journey from growing up in Hawaii to the Industrial Engineering program at Stanford, his experiences in student government, and the challenge of standing out in a place where everyone is exceptional.
Margaret Wright received her degree in mathematics from Stanford before joining the Systems Optimization Lab (SOL), led by MS&E professor emeritus George Dantzig. Wright, who also earned MS and PhD degrees in computer science at Stanford, describes her career in SOL and her experience as a woman in STEM during the early days of operations research.
Shmuel Oren (MS & PhD ’72) discusses his path to Stanford, where he was advised by professor emeritus David Luenberger, and his career in optimization.
Duru Ahanotu (MS ’92, PhD ’99) reflects on what led him to Stanford, his involvement with the Black community on campus, and his academic journey.
Career events
Presenters and several participants at a “How to Network” career event | Photo by Lindsey Akin
Thank you to the alums and others who hosted
MS&E Career Services events this quarter! These informative sessions provided valuable insight to our current students on topics such as how the MS&E senior project experience has become useful beyond Stanford, how to network, negotiating job offers, and more. Special thanks to MS&E alums Duru Ahanotu, Belle Battistoni, Arif Damji, David Madej, Guillaume Noziere, Rollins Stallworth, and Ben Ying, as well as Stanford Law alum Erik Pavia.
Are you an alum who wants to share your expertise and meet the next generation of MS&E grads? Contact
Lindsey Akin, MS&E’s Career Services Officer.
Awards & recognition
Faculty
Ellen Vitercik was selected as an AI2050 Early Career Fellow by the Schmidt Sciences program on Advanced Research on Generative AI.
Gerry Tsoukalas (PhD ’13) was named to the Thinkers50 Radar Class of 2025 for his work integrating domain expertise, data, and advanced models to reshape management thinking.
