Güzin Bayraksan, a MASCER (Multifaceted Mathematics for Rare, High-Impact Events in Complex Energy and Environment Systems) principal investigator and associate professor of Integrated Systems Engineering at The Ohio State University, has been elected chair of the Stochastic Programming Society (SPS).

The society promotes the development and application of stochastic programming theory, models, methods, software tools, and standards and encourages the exchange of information among researchers and practitioners through its triennial conferences, specialized workshops, and website. 

Bayraksan received her Ph.D. in operations research and industrial engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests are in stochastic optimization, particularly Monte Carlo sampling-based and data-driven distributionally robust methods for stochastic programming with applications in water resources management.

Her awards include a 2016 INFORMS Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment (ENRE) Best Publication Award in Environment and Sustainability, a 2012 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to study stochastic optimization for water resources management, and the 2008 INFORMS best case study award for her investigation of operational risk in financial institutions.

Bayraksan previously served as an elected member (2010–2016) and treasurer (2013–2016) of the Committee on Stochastic Programming, the governing board of SPS. As chair of the Stochastic Programming Society, Bayraksan will be in charge of leading its governing board from 2019 to 2022.