Omega Rho () is a North American scholastic honor society for students in the fields of operations research and management science. It was established in 1976 and became part of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) in 1998. Omega Rho has chapters in the United States and Mexico.
History Omega Rho was founded at the Institute of Management Sciences and Operations Research Society of America (TIMS/ORSA) joint national meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on April 1, 1976. It is an honor society to recognize students in the fields of operations research and management science and to support study in those areas. Its first president was Clinton K. Ancker Jr. from the University of Southern California.
It was admitted to the Association of College Honor Societies in 1983 with full membership in 1986. It became part of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) in 1998.
In 2012, Omega Rho had an active membership of 181 and a total membership of 8,069 As of 2024, it has 38 active chapters in the United States and Mexico. Its headquarters is in Catonsville, Maryland.
Symbols The colors of Omega Rho are blue and red.Noted in the Society's Bylaws, accessed 31 Jul 2021. The symbols of the Society are explained in its Bylaws as being a saddle projection (~3D model) superimposed by a tapered, red arrow. Its motto is OMEGA RHO®.
Membership Omega Rho is coeducational. Potential members are juniors, seniors, and graduate students who are must in the top 25 percent of their class, with a 3.5 GPA. Faculty can join as faculty members. Omega Rho also admits honorary members.
Activities Each fall, the society hosts the Omega Rho Distinguished Lecture at the annual INFORMS Meeting. Presenters of the plenary lecture include Anna Nagurney.
Chapters Following is a list of Omega Rho chapters.
Charter date and rangeInstitutionLocationStatusCase Western Reserve UniversityCleveland, OhioActiveColumbia UniversityNew York City, New YorkActiveGeorge Washington UniversityWashington, D.C.ActiveNaval Postgraduate SchoolMonterey, CaliforniaActiveNew York UniversityNew York City, New YorkActiveNorth Carolina State UniversityRaleigh, North CarolinaActiveSouthern Methodist UniversityDallas, TexasActiveState University of New York at BuffaloBuffalo, New YorkActiveUniversity of Illinois ChicagoChicago, IllinoisInactiveUniversity of PittsburghPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaActiveUniversity of Southern CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaActiveUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesville, VirginiaActivePurdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IndianaActiveUnited States Naval AcademyAnnapolis, MarylandActiveCalifornia Polytechnic State University, San Luis ObispoSan Luis Obispo, CaliforniaActiveCalifornia State University, FullertonFullerton, CaliforniaActiveAir Force Institute of TechnologyDayton, OhioActiveBabson CollegeWellesley, MassachusettsActiveGeorge Mason UniversityFairfax, VirginiaActiveSaint Louis UniversitySt. Louis, MissouriActiveUniversity of Texas at AustinAustin, TexasActiveUniversity of CincinnatiCincinnati, OhioActiveUniversity of Massachusetts AmherstAmherst, MassachusettsActiveCornell UniversityIthaca, New YorkActivePortland State UniversityPortland, OregonActiveUnited States Air Force AcademyEl Paso County, ColoradoActiveInstituto Tecnológico Autónomo de MéxicoSan Ángel, Mexico City, MexicoActiveUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillChapel Hill, North CarolinaActiveCarnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PennsylvaniaActiveGeorgetown UniversityWashington, D.C.ActiveBucknell UniversityLewisburg, PennsylvaniaActive2002Arizona State UniversityTempe, ArizonaActiveFlorida International UniversityUniversity Park, FloridaActive Louisiana State UniversityBaton Rouge, LouisianaActive2005United States Military AcademyWest Point, New YorkActiveUniversity of South FloridaTampa, FloridaActiveSaint Joseph's UniversityPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaActiveUniversity of ScrantonScranton, PennsylvaniaActiveUniversity of Texas at DallasRichardson, TexasActivexxxx ?–20xx ?Clemson UniversityClemson, South CarolinaInactivexxxx ?–20xx ?Miami University Oxford, OhioInactivexxxx ?–20xx ?Northwestern University Evanston, IllinoisInactivexxxx ?–20xx ?Oregon State University Corvallis, OregonInactivexxxx ?–before July 2011Polytechnic Institute of New York UniversityBrooklyn, New YorkInactivexxxx ?–before July 2011University of DelawareNewark, DelawareInactivexxxx ?–20xx ?University of Maryland, College ParkCollege Park, MarylandInactivexxxx ?–before July 2011University of New HavenWest Haven, ConnecticutInactivexxxx ?–20xx ?University of Texas at ArlingtonArlington, TexasInactive
Notable members
Collegiate and faculty members
NameChapterNotabilitySteven Nahmias Professor of operations management at Santa Clara University
Honorary members Following are some of Omega Rho's honorary members.
NameInitiation dateNotabilityRussell L. Ackoff 1992Organizational theorist, consultant, and management scientistRobert Bixby2007Professor emeritus of computational and applied mathematics at Rice UniversityAlfred Blumstein1988Professor at the Heinz College and Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon UniversitySeth Bonder2004Engineer who made substantial contributions to operations research for the US militaryJonathan Caulkins2014Drug policy researcher and professor at Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon UniversityAbraham Charnes1987MathematicianErhan Çınlar 2003Probabilist and professor meeritus at Princeton UniversityDavid S. C. Chu 1996US Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Program Analysis & EvaluationWilliam W. Cooper1997Founding president of The Institute of Management SciencesRichard Cyert1985Economist, statistician, organizational theorist, and President of Carnegie Mellon UniversityGeorge Dantzig 1992Mathematical scientist known for his development of the simplex algorithmRalph E. Gomory1989Applied mathematician and IBM researcher and executiveStuart L. Hart2005Academic, writer, and theoristKarla Hoffman 2013Professor of systems engineering in the Volgenau School of Engineering of George Mason UniversityRonald A. Howard 1999Emeritus professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford UniversityEdward H. Kaplan2000Professor at the Yale School of Management, Yale School of Medicine, and Yale School of Engineering and Applied ScienceRichard M. Karp1998Computer scientist and computational theorist at the University of California, BerkeleyGeorge Kozmetsky1984Technology innovator who co-founded Teledyne Inc.Gilbert Laporte2009Professor of operations research at Université de MontréalRichard Larson1998Engineer and operations research specialist known for urban service systems and disaster planningJudith Liebman2003Operations researcher, civil engineer, mechanical engineer, and professor emerita at the University of Illinois at Urbana–ChampaignJohn Little1997Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyRobert E. Machol1989Professor of systems at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management of Northwestern UniversityThomas L. Magnanti2001Institute Professor and former Dean of the School of Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyWilliam L. MaxwellProfessor of industrial engineering at Cornell UniversityThomas J. Murrin1983United States Deputy Secretary of CommerceGeorge Nemhauser1987Professor of industrial and systems engineering at Georgia TechN. U. Prabhu1992Mathematician, known for his contributions to queueing theoryAlan Pritsker1982Engineer and one of the founders of the field of computer simulationWilliam R. Pulleyblank2001Professor of operations research at the United States Military Academy James G. Roche200220th Secretary of the Air Force and executive with Northrop GrummanHerbert A. Simon1986Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic SciencesRobert M. Thrall1985Mathematician and a pioneer of operations researchJohn A. White1990Chancellor of the University of Arkansas and dean Georgia Tech's College of Engineering
See also Honor cords INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics
References
External links
INFORMS website