Henry Lam
Associate Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Henry Lam is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research at Columbia University.
His research includes simulation modeling, optimization under uncertainty, and their integration with machine learning and statistical tools to enhance data-driven decision-making. His works currently focus on building principled approaches to quantify uncertainties and risks arising from data and model errors, and decision-making procedures with statistical and computational efficiency. These methodologies aim to address challenges arising from the complexities in modern industrial and business applications, including high-dimensionality of uncertain input or model space, heavy computation burden for large models, and structural complications in data utilization that are beyond the reach of classical methods. Lam is also broadly interested in computational probability, stochastic and robust optimization, rare-event analysis, and applications in resource allocation especially in collaboration with city agencies such as the New York City Fire Department.
Lam received his PhD degree in statistics from Harvard University in 2011. His works have been recognized by several venues such as the NSF CAREER Award, NSA Young Investigator Award, JP Morgan Chase Faculty Research Award, Adobe Faculty Research Award, and an array of paper awards from academic societies, conferences and awards won by supervised students. Lam serves on the editorial boards of Operations Research, INFORMS Journal on Computing, Applied Probability Journals, Stochastic Models, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and Queueing Systems, and as the Area Editor in Stochastic Models and Data Science in Operations Research Letters. Lam is also the Vice-Chair and Chair-Elect of INFORMS Applied Probability Society and the Secretary of INFORMS Simulation Society.
Research Areas
- Data Analytics
- Decision Analysis
- Optimization
- Resource Allocation
- Risk Management
- Stochastic Modeling and Simulation
- Business Analytics
Additional information
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Professional Experience
- Associate Professor, Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia University, 2017-
- Assistant Professor, Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2015–2017
- Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics, Boston University, 2011–2014
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Professional Affiliations
- Associate Editor, Operations Research, 2015-
- Associate Editor, INFORMS Journal on Computing, 2016-
- Editorial Board, Stochastic Models, 2019-
- Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Probability / Advances in Applied Probability, 2020
- Associate Editor, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 2021-
- Associate Editor, Queueing Systems, 2022-
- Area Editor, Stochastic Models and Data Science, Operations Research Letters, 2022-
- INFORMS Simulation Society Secretary, 2022-
- INFORMS Applied Probability Society Vice-Chair, 2022-
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Honors & Awards
- Best Theoretical Paper, Winter Simulation Conference, 2023
- INFORMS Outstanding Simulation Publication Award, 2022
- JPMorgan Chase Faculty Research Award, 2020
- Finalist, Best Theoretical Paper, Winter Simulation Conference, 2020
- Best Theoretical Paper, Winter Simulation Conference, 2018
- NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, 2017
- INFORMS Junior Faculty Interest Group (JFIG) Paper Competition, Second Prize, 2016
- Adobe Faculty Research Award, 2016
- Finalist, Best Theoretical Paper, Winter Simulation Conference, 2016
- NSA Young Investigator Award, 2013
- INFORMS Junior Faculty Interest Group (JFIG) Paper Competition, Finalist, 2012
- INFORMS George Nicholson Student Paper Competition Honorable Mention Prize, 2010
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Education
- PhD, Statistics, Harvard University
- MA, Statistics, Harvard University
- BS, Actuarial Science, University of Hong Kong