2026 ISyE Awards Program

Campus Club

April 10, 2026

9:30 AM

WELCOME

Dr. Archis Ghate

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS

Dr. Lisa Miller

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Undergraduate Achievement in ISyE Award

ISyE Community Scholarship Mahendra Bakshi - Sant Ram Arora Memorial Scholarship

student presentation by: Alexander Eich

GRADUATE PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS

Dr. Krishnamurthy Iyer

Varanasi Fellowship

Dr. Kevin Leder

Dr. Archis Ghate

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Fellowship GAGE Fellowship

student presentation by: Michael Olabode

ISYE PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

Dr. Lisa Miller

Alumni Partnership Award Industry Partnership Award

ISYE FACULTY RECOGNITIONS

Dr. Archis Ghate

CLOSING REMARKS

Dr. Archis Ghate

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS

ISyE Community Scholarship

Grace Renk

Mira Patel

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Undergraduate Achievement in ISyE Award

Allison Albrightson

Isaac Chmieleski

Alexander Eich

Joseph Gigliotti

Paityn Hamus

Charley Hatterman

Mira Patel

Cameron Price

Ethan Stone

Robert Weber

GRADUATE

Varanasi Fellowship

Zahra Haji Alian Haghighi

Tzu-Huey Weng

Haozhe Yu

Alumni Partnership Award

Emma Ehling Class of 2020

Mahendra Bakshi - Sant Ram Arora Memorial Scholarship

Macie Beall

PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Fellowship

Yifeng Xiao GAGE Fellowship

ISYE PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

Michael Olabode

Industry Partnership Award

Megan Brosnan Boston Scientific

ISYE FACULTY RECOGNITIONS

INFORMS Fellow Award

Russ Penrose Excellence in Teaching Award & the McKnight Presidential Fellow Award Dr. Shuzhong Zhang Professor

Dr. Nick Arnosti

Associate Professor

UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM AWARDS & SCHOLARSHIPS

ISyE Community Scholarship

The ISyE Community Scholarship recognizes students whose actions help pave the way for broader representation in Industrial Engineering and, more generally, in STEM-related field

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Undergraduate Achievement in ISyE Award

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Undergraduate Achievement in ISyE Award is made possible by a generous gift by College of Science and Engineering graduate Dr. Alan Eliason. This annual award recognizes ISyE undergraduate students who have excelled in areas such as leadership, academics, community impact, and innovation.

Mahendra Bakshi - Sant Ram Arora Memorial Scholarship

Mahendra Bakshi (M S in Industrial Engineering, 1966) created the Mahendra Bakshi - Sant Ram Arora Memorial Scholarship endowment to honor former faculty member Sant Ram Arora Arora was a young professor in the ISyE program when Bakshi entered the program and they co-authored Bakshi's first paper, “The Sequencing Problem,” which appeared in the journal Management Science Arora has remained an inspiration to Bakshi throughout his life This scholarship honors the interesting and varied career that Arora enabled.

GRADUATE PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS

Varanasi Fellowship

The Varanasi Fellowship is a merit-based award granted to select graduate students in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities It offers financial support to help ease the transition into graduate school and enables recipients to better-focus on their studies through a non-service appointment. The Fellowship was established with support from the Varanasi family to help recruit graduate students with potential for academic excellence. The Varanasi family, with an MS alum among them, has long been a part of the ISyE community.

Dr. Alan L. Eliason Fellowship

Dr Alan L Eliason Fellowship is made possible by a generous gift by College of Science and Engineering graduate Dr Alan Eliason This award recognizes an ISyE graduate student who has excelled in academic excellence

GAGE Fellowship

Grants to Advance Graduate Education (GAGE) funds are designed partly to support the inclusion of individuals with experiences that are rarely present in a graduate program. This year ’ s funds were made available through a pilot program initiated by the Graduate School, whereby funds were allocated in the form of bridge fellowships to students who had lost previously available funding due to budget cuts

ISYE PARTNER AWARDS

Alumni Partner Award

The Alumni Partnership Award recognizes outstanding graduates of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering whose sustained engagement, generosity, and collaborative spirit have made a transformative impact on the department and its community This award celebrates a legacy of partnership one that exemplifies leadership, service, and an enduring dedication to making a lasting difference in the department

Industry Partner Award

The Industry Partnership Award honors a partner who has demonstrated exceptional commitment to advancing the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering through meaningful collaboration, strategic engagement, and sustained support. This award celebrates a collaborative relationship that drives measurable impact, fosters innovation, and creates lasting value for students, faculty, and the broader engineering community.

ISYE FACULTY RECOGNITIONS

INFORMS Fellow Award

Being named an INFORMS Fellow is one of the highest honors in the field of Operations Research It is awarded every year by INFORMS, the premier international association for decision and data sciences, to a few leaders who have made innovative contributions to the field

Russ Penrose Excellence in Teaching Award

Russell J. Penrose Excellence in Teaching Award in ISyE was created by College of Science and Engineering (CSE) alumnus Russell J. “Russ” Penrose, EE ‘49, in celebration of the creation of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. This award honors an ISyE faculty member who has demonstrated leadership and outstanding efforts in their work as educators

McKnight Presidential Fellow Award

The McKnight Presidential Fellows Program is a three-year award given to the most promising individuals who have been granted both tenure and promotion to associate professor in an academic year. It recognizes recipients who are recommended by their college dean and chosen at the discretion of the executive vice president and provost based on excellence in research and scholarship, leadership, potential to build top-tier programs, and ability to advance University of Minnesota priorities.

Scholarships and Funds

Strategic Initiative Fund

Your donation to the ISyE Strategic Initiative Fund will directly support ISyE’s efforts to bridge the gap between classroom learning and real-world applications by fostering collaborations with businesses and alumni These partnerships enable students to apply their knowledge to practical challenges, while also promoting groundbreaking research on critical issues facing society

By giving today, you’ll help provide scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, allowing them to benefit from experiences that prepare them for successful careers. Fund innovative faculty research that addresses societal needs.

ISyE Community Scholarship

In ISyE, we take pride in the exceptional contributions of our faculty, staff, and students. Together with our industry partners, board members, and alumni, the ISyE community plays a pivotal role in the department’s success and impact. By contributing to the ISyE Community Scholarship, you will not only honor the hard work of our students, but also make a meaningful and lasting impact on the growth of our community Your donation will directly support the ISyE Community Scholarship, which paves the way for increasing student enrollment in Industrial Engineering and STEM-related fields

Benefits of Giving

Giving to an ect impact on the department and students. Giv pact on the ISyE community while maintaining lo

ing Process and Timeline

ISyE Scholarships and Funds allows ve what you can at any time.

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