TIMS President, 1994
Mark Lembersky was the last President of TIMS, serving for the second half of 1994, immediately prior to the formal merger with ORSA to form INFORMS. When Mark Lembersky retired from active OR/MS work in 1999, he was Chairman of Lembersky Chi, Incorporated. For much of the prior twenty-plus years he had lead the development of pioneering, yet pragmatic computer-based interactive systems built around embedded OR/MS. This work earned the Computerworld Smithsonian Award for Innovative Use of Information Technology and the Franz Edelman Award for Management Sciences Achievement. One system was selected for exhibit at the Computer Museum, then in Boston.
Dr. Lembersky’s connection with OR/MS began as a senior at MIT in 1967, when he did his S.B. thesis with Professor Al Drake as advisor and was mentored by then graduate student Richard Larson. From MIT, he went on to Stanford for his PhD in O.R.
His professional career in operations research and management sciences included a stint on the faculty at Oregon State University, where he was Operations Research Program Coordinator, received college-wide teaching awards and was active in consulting on leading edge computer-aided manufacturing. Lembersky next joined Weyerhaeuser Company, applying OR/MS and eventually becoming General Manager of the Engineered Products Division and also Director of an R&D Division with engineers and scientists in twelve locations across the United States. Subsequently, he and a colleague formed Lembersky Chi, Inc.
Dr. Lembersky served on many company and non-profit boards and advisory committees at the state and national level. He has been an avid photographer, with exhibits and two published books of his photos. He recalls being honored with First Prize at the first (and only) OR/MS Photo Contest. He has been profiled in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Business Week and elsewhere.
As the last elected President of TIMS, Lembersky both had the opportunity and the pleasure of being part of the creation of INFORMS.