Laura Albert, Ph.D., is a Professor and the David Gustafson Department Chair of Industrial & Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research studies how to reduce risk in public sector using optimization and operations research methodologies in applications spanning critical infrastructure protection, public safety, and emergency response. She currently serves as the 2023 President of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). She has been recognized as a Fellow of AAAS and the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Her research has been recognized by the INFORMS Impact Prize, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and a Fulbright Award. She has been recognized by the INFORMS Impact Prize, a National Science Foundation CAREER award, and a Fulbright Award. As a champion for public engagement, she has written several op-eds in national news outlets and is the author of the engineering blogs “Punk Rock Operations Research” and “Badger Bracketology.”