Professor Val Belton, Professor of Management Science and Associate Deputy Principal for Learning and Teaching, was honoured by the UK Operational Research Society at the annual Blackett Lecture at the Royal Society, London, where she was made a Companion of OR in recognition of sustained support and encouragement for the development of the profession.
Professor Belton's involvement with the UK professional society for OR dates back to before 1981 when she was the first woman to be elected to the Council. She went on to become the first female President of ORS from 2004 to 2006 and President of EURO, the European association of OR Societies from 2009 to 2010. The citation describes her as an outstanding academic, highlighting her research contribution over 25 years to the development and practical application of Multicriteria Decision Analysis – reflected in her receipt of the Presidential Service Award of the International Society for MCDM in 2004 and the Georg Cantor lifetime achievement award in 2008 – and her contribution, through student-centred teaching and learning, to the development of reflective OR practitioners. It also notes the leading role she played as President of ORS in the high profile EPSRC International Review of Research in Operational Research in the UK, leading to increased recognition and academic funding for the profession.
As well as prominent OR practitioners and academics, the list of 33 Companions honoured since the introduction of the award in 1983 includes people who played a significant part in supporting the development of OR in practice, including Sir Hermann Bondi in his role as Chief Scientific Advisor to the Ministry of Defence and Lord Derek Ezra as Chairman of the National Coal Board.
PMS Blackett, whose work during World War II established him as the founding father of Operational Research, was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948 and served as President of the Royal Society from 1965-1970; Professor Belton is seen here with the Companionship award in front of the painting of him which, fittingly, adorns the room in which the Blackett lecture was held.