Jim Luedtke graduated from Georgia Tech with a PhD in Industrial and Systems Engineering in 2007. He spent a year as a postdoctoral researcher at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center in New York, and then started a position as a professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Luedtke conducts research developing methods for solving mathematical models (“integer and stochastic optimization problems”).  These models help decision-makers make operational decisions in settings where there are an astronomical number of discrete combinations, or where the decisions must be made in the face of uncertain data or outcomes.  Jim has been awarded the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences Optimization Society Prize for Young Researchers, and an NSF CAREER Award. After being promoted to Associate Professor in 2015, he spent a semester on sabbatical teaching and conducting research in Chile as a Fulbright Scholar.