Andrew Whinston (right), McCombs professor in the Department of Information, Risk, and Operations Management was named a Distinguished Fellow at the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) Oct. 11-14 in San Diego. INFORMS is the largest professional society in the world for the field of operations research. Whinston was named Distinguished Fellow in the INFORMS Information Systems Society.

Alok Gupta, Curtis L. Carlson Schoolwide Chair in Information Management, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, who earned his Ph.D. at UT Austin, commented on Whinston's award: "As a graduate of the MSIS program in 1996 and a student who trained under Prof. Whinston, it was an honor to describe Prof. Whinston's leadership in preparing me and other graduate students for academic careers and guiding our training as well as stimulating intellectual thoughts through dedicated and continuous discussions and research support. UT Austin simply provides one of the best training for Ph.D. students in MIS and Prof. Whinston's contributions and dedication for facilitating this are simply immesurable. Personally, I am indebted to Prof. Whinston for his professional advice, research support and personal kindness that has allowed me to have a reasonably good start in my academic career."