She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests are in the field of operations research, with a particular focus on discrete optimization with application to homeland security and emergency response. Dr. Laura Albert McLay’s research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of the Army, Sandia National Laboratory, and she has been awarded an NSF CAREER award. She has authored or co-authored 45 publications in archival journals and refereed proceedings. Her research has been awarded several honors, including four best paper awards.