Today at the 2008 INFORMS Annual Meeting, being held in Washington, D.C., this week, Lawrence Wein gave the Philip McCord Morse lecture. Professor Wein has many accomplishments and has, with his collaborators, developed mathematical models for some interesting policy questions related to homeland security and bioterrorism. There are links to his articles and op-ed pieces on his home page. Today he talked about his work on responding to an anthrax attack, protecting the nation’s milk supply, the spread of influenza, and identifying terrorists at ports of entry. It is an impressive amount of work that has led Wein to present his results to government officials of all types, leading to policy changes and increasing our preparedness.
As someone who works in this area, his accomplishments motivate me to continue helping public health officials, and I hope that his success will inspire others to work in this area as well.
