# John von Neumann Theory Prize

The John von Neumann Theory Prize of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is awarded annually to an individual (or sometimes a group) who has made fundamental and sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences.
The Prize named after mathematician John von Neumann is awarded for a body of work, rather than a single piece. The Prize was intended to reflect contributions that have stood the test of time. The criteria include significance, innovation, depth, and scientific excellence.
The award is $5,000, a medallion and a citation.
The Prize has been awarded since 1975. The first recipient was George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming.

## List of recipients

* 2024 Jim Dai
* 2023 Christos Papadimitriou and Mihalis Yannakakis
* 2022 Vijay Vazirani
* 2021 Alexander Shapiro
* 2020 Adrian Lewis
* 2019 Dimitris Bertsimas and Jong-Shi Pang
* 2018 Dimitri Bertsekas and John Tsitsiklis
** for contributions to Parallel and Distributed Computation as well as Neurodynamic Programming.
* 2017 Donald Goldfarb and Jorge Nocedal
** for seminal contributions to the theory and applications of nonlinear optimization over the past several decades.
* 2016 Martin I. Reiman and Ruth J. Williams
** for seminal research contributions over the past several decades, to the theory and applications of “stochastic networks/systems” and their “heavy traffic approximations.”
* 2015 Vašek Chvátal and Jean Bernard Lasserre
** for seminal and profound contributions to the theoretical foundations of optimization.
* 2014 Nimrod Megiddo
** for fundamental contributions across a broad range of areas of operations research and management science, most notably in linear programming, combinatorial optimization, and algorithmic game theory.
* 2013 Michel Balinski
* 2012 George Nemhauser and Laurence Wolsey
* 2011 Gérard Cornuéjols, IBM University Professor of Operations Research at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business
** for his fundamental and broad contributions to discrete optimization including his deep research on balanced and ideal matrices, perfect graphs and cutting planes for mixed-integer optimization.
* 2010 Søren Asmussen and Peter W. Glynn
* 2009 Yurii Nesterov and Yinyu Ye
* 2008 Frank Kelly
* 2007 Arthur F. Veinott, Jr.
** for his profound contributions to three major areas of operations research and management science: inventory theory, dynamic programming and lattice programming.
* 2006 Martin Grötschel, László Lovász and Alexander Schrijver
** for their fundamental path-breaking work in combinatorial optimization.
* 2005 Robert J. Aumann
** in recognition of his fundamental contributions to game theory and related areas
* 2004 J. Michael Harrison
** for his profound contributions to two major areas of operations research and management science: stochastic networks and mathematical finance.
* 2003 Arkadi Nemirovski and Michael J. Todd
** for their seminal and profound contributions in continuous optimization.
* 2002 Donald L. Iglehart and Cyrus Derman
** for their fundamental contributions to performance analysis and optimization of stochastic systems
* 2001 Ward Whitt
** for his contributions to queueing theory, applied probability and stochastic modelling
* 2000 Ellis L. Johnson and Manfred W. Padberg
* 1999 R. Tyrrell Rockafellar
* 1998 Fred W. Glover
* 1997 Peter Whittle
* 1996 Peter C. Fishburn
* 1995 Egon Balas
* 1994 Lajos Takacs
* 1993 Robert Herman
* 1992 Alan J. Hoffman and Philip Wolfe
* 1991 Richard E. Barlow and Frank Proschan
* 1990 Richard Karp
* 1989 Harry M. Markowitz
* 1988 Herbert A. Simon
* 1987 Samuel Karlin
* 1986 Kenneth J. Arrow
* 1985 Jack Edmonds
* 1984 Ralph Gomory
* 1983 Herbert Scarf
* 1982 Abraham Charnes, William W. Cooper, and Richard J. Duffin
* 1981 Lloyd Shapley
* 1980 David Gale, Harold W. Kuhn, and Albert W. Tucker
* 1979 David Blackwell
* 1978 John F. Nash and Carlton E. Lemke
* 1977 Felix Pollaczek
* 1976 Richard Bellman
* 1975 George B. Dantzig for his work on linear programming
There is also an IEEE John von Neumann Medal awarded by the IEEE annually "for outstanding achievements in computer-related science and technology".