The Lifetime Professional Achievement Award (LPAA) of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)'s Simulation Society is the highest honor given by the Society. The purpose of this award is to recognize major contributions to the field of simulation that are sustained over a professional career, with the critical consideration being the total impact of those contributions on computer simulation. Past recipients are: Richard Nance, Jack Kleijnen, George Fishman, Robert Sargent, Thomas Schriber, Alan Pritsker, and Julian Reitman. An individual's contributions may fall in one or more of the following areas:

contributions to research contributions to practice dissemination of knowledge

development of software or hardware service to the profession advancement of the status or visibility of the field

Given at most once a year, the award consists of a plaque and reasonable travel expenses incurred by the recipient when attending the presentation ceremony. If given, the award will be presented in December during the opening session of the Winter Simulation Conference.

Anyone is eligible to be nominated for the award, and the award may be given posthumously. Nominations may be submitted in the form of pdf files by anyone (including self-nominations), but the nominator must be clearly identified. The burden of offering evidence of merit falls on the nominator. Each nomination dossier should include:

• the nominee's complete resume;
• a clear-cut, comprehensive description of the nominee's major contributions to the profession, with complete supporting documentation;
• at least three letters of endorsement providing evidence of the significance and magnitude of the nominee's professional achievements.

Nominations for this award must be received by the Chair of the LPAA Selection Committee no later than September 1, 2009. Send completed nominations, including all supporting letters and documentation, if possible in the form of pdf files attached to a single e-mail to the Committee Chair.

2009 LPAA Committee Chair: Richard E. Nance (nance@vt.edu)
Phone: 540-529-8121 (cell)
Fax: 540-961-4162

Committee Members: Keebom Kang, Enver Yucesan

Information on past winners of the award is available on this site.