U.S. SECRETARY OF AIR FORCE TO ADDRESS ASSOCIATION MEETING IN SAN JOSE (November 7, 2002)

The speech will examine the U.S. Air Force’s role defending the United States in a time of changing threats, and the role that the field of operations research plays in helping military leaders make timely, effective decisions, sometimes under great uncertainty about the plans of an unconventional enemy.

EVENT: U.S. Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche addresses Omega Rho, the official Honor Society of INFORMS, on "Operations Research and the Challenge of Transformation"

DATE: Sunday, November 17

PLENARY ADDRESS: 11:40 AM – 12:30 PM San Jose Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 1

PRESS CONFERENCE: 12:30 – 12:50 PM San Jose Convention Center, Ballroom A8

The INFORMS 50th Annual Meeting, "The Silicon Valley Challenge," in San Jose will include sessions on topics in numerous fields, including air safety, e-commerce, information technology, energy, transportation, marketing, telecommunications, and health care. Close to 2,500 people are expected to attend.

[The remarks are online at Text of speech by U.S. Secretary of the Air Force at INFORMS 50th Anniversary Annual Meeting in San Jose ]

The General Chairs of the convention are David W. Conrath and Burton V. Dean of the College of Business at San Jose State University. Additional information about the conference is at http://www2.informs.org/Conf/SanJose2002 and http://www2.informs.org/Press

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS®) is an international scientific society with over 10,000 members dedicated to applying scientific methods to help improve decision-making, management, and operations. Members of INFORMS work in business, government, and academia. They are represented in fields as diverse as airlines, health care, law enforcement, the military, the stock market, and telecommunications. 2002 is the 50th anniversary of organized operations research in the United States. 1952 was the year that the journal Operations Research and the Operations Research Society of America, one of the founding societies of INFORMS, were born. The INFORMS website is at http://www.informs.org.