Larson
Appointed
Mitsui Professor
By
Lois
Slavin, ESD Communications Director
– November 20, 2004
Richard
C. Larson, Professor of Civil and
Environmental Engineering and Engineering
Systems, was appointed a Mitsui Professor
on November 1, 2004.
In
addition to recognizing faculty achievement,
a fundamental objective of the Mitsui
Chair is to encourage cultural and
technological exchange between the
United States and Japan.
Professor
Larson was nominated as an exceptional
and energetic faculty member with
numerous awards and accomplishments.
His awards include the Institute
for Operations Research and the Management
Sciences (INFORMS) President’s
Award (2003); election to the
National Academy of Engineering (1993);
and the Lanchester
Prize of the Operations Research
Society of America for his book Urban
Police Patrol Analysis (1972). He
is founding director of INFORMS
(1994) and is now its President-Elect.
He was ORSA’s President from
1993-1994. Professor Larson also served
as Co-Director of MIT’s
Operations Research Center for
14 years and for eight years as Director
of MIT’s Center for Advanced
Educational Services.
The
first Mitsui Chair was established
in 1974 through the generosity of
the Mistui Group, one of Japan’s
oldest and largest industrial groups.
The Mitsui Group was founded by MIT
alumni Takuma Dan, who graduated from
the Institute in 1878. After leaving
MIT, Takuma Dan returned to Japan
to become a leading financier, a world-renowned
industry leader, eventually the head
of Mitsui. He maintained a life-long
relationship with MIT and one of his
professors, Robert Richards.
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