The 2026 Killian Award Lecture by Dimitris Bertsimas has been rescheduled for March 19 at 4pm in 10-250.

2026 James R. Killian, Jr. Award and Lecture Series by:
Professor Dimitris Bertsimas SM ’87 PhD ’88
Vice Provost for Open Learning
Associate Dean, Online Education & Artificial Intelligence

Algorithms for Life: AI and Operations Research Transforming Healthcare, Education, and Agriculture
For over four decades, I have pursued the vision of using mathematics and algorithms to address problems that improve the human condition—saving lives, improving learning, and feeding the world. This talk traces the convergence from operations research and optimization under uncertainty, through machine learning and AI, to their impact in healthcare, education, and agriculture. I share how breakthrough research becomes real-world impact, with concrete examples from medical diagnosis and precision medicine to precision agriculture and personalized education. And I explore what is next: how emerging AI developments will fundamentally reshape these fields in ways we are only beginning to imagine.

Lecture will begin at 4 pm in 10-250

The Killian Lecture is open to all members of the MIT community. No registration is required, but we do suggest arriving a few minutes early to ensure a seat. Live Streamtext captioning will be available via mobile devices.

This lecture will not be webcast, but it will be recorded and posted on the Killian Lecture website in the days following.

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Dimitris Bertsimas SM ’87, PhD ’88, a leading figure in operations research, has been named the recipient of the 2025-26 James R. Killian Jr. Faculty Achievement Award. It is the highest honor the MIT faculty grants to its own professors.

Bertsimas is the Boeing Professor of Operations Research at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he has made substantial contributions to business practices in many fields. He has also been a prolific advisor of graduate students and an enterprising leader of academic programs, serving as the inaugural faculty director of the Master of Business Analytics (MBAn) program since 2016, associate dean of business analytics since 2019, and vice provost for open learning since 2024.

MIT News announcement: https://news.mit.edu/2025/dimitris-bertsimas-receives-killian-award-0514

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About the James R. Killian Faculty Achievement Award and Lecture Series: The purpose of the Killian Award is to recognize extraordinary professional achievement by MIT faculty members and to communicate their accomplishments to members of the Institute community. The recipient of the Killian Award holds the title of Killian Award Lecturer for the following academic year and presents, during that time, one or more lectures to the MIT community on his or her own professional activities. The Killian Award selection is made by faculty members elected by vote of the Faculty from a slate prepared by the Faculty Nominations Committee. Visit the Killian Award and Lecture site.

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