Dimitris Bertsimas is the Vice Provost for Open Learning at MIT, the Associate Dean of Business Analytics, the Boeing Leaders for Global Operations Professor of Management, and a Professor of Operations Research at MIT Sloan School of Management. At MIT Open Learning, he oversees Open Learning’s product offerings, new initiatives, infrastructure, finances, and operations. 

A faculty member at MIT since 1988, he has made significant contributions in the areas of optimization, stochastic systems, machine learning, and their applications across various fields, including healthcare, transportation, and finance.

Bertsimas has served as Editor-in-Chief of the INFORMS Journal of Optimization and as a former department editor in Optimization for Management Science and in Financial Engineering for Operations Research. He co-directed the Operations Research Center at MIT from 2006 to 2019. In 2013, he developed and launched the Master of Business Analytics (MBAn) program, which has been ranked No. 1 in the world since its inception and attracts over 1,000 applications annually for just 80 positions.

Passionate about teaching, research, and entrepreneurship, Bertsimas is the innovator behind 15.071 The Analytics Edge, a course on Open Learning’s MITx that has attracted hundreds of thousands of online learners. He also has the following courses available on MIT OpenCourseWare, part of Open Learning: 6.251J Introduction to Mathematical Programming, 15.093J Optimization Methods, 6.231 Dynamic Programming and Stochastic Control, and 15.083J Integer Programming and Combinatorial Optimization. 

He is a distinguished author, having co-authored eight books and over 300 scientific papers. As of 2024, he has supervised 97 completed doctoral theses and is currently advising 23 more. His greatest passion and pride lie in mentoring these students.

In addition to his academic achievements, Bertsimas is a successful entrepreneur. He has co-founded 10 analytics companies, including Dynamic Ideas, LLC, which was sold to American Express in 2002, and several other ventures in healthcare, financial services, and consulting. He also founded Dynamic Ideas Press, a publisher of scientific books. His companies have been at the forefront of applying machine learning and optimization techniques to solve complex real-world problems.

Bertsimas' work has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including the Harold Larnder Prize, the Philip Morse Lectureship Prize, the William Pierskalla Award for best paper in healthcare, the Farkas Prize, the Erlang Prize, the SIAM Prize in Optimization, and the Bodossaki Prize. He has also been honored with two major awards from INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences). In 2019, he won the John von Neumann Theory Prize for his fundamental, sustained contributions to theory in operations research and the management sciences. This award recognizes the significance, innovation, depth, and scientific excellence of his body of work. Additionally, Bertsimas received the INFORMS President’s Award in 2019, recognizing his important contributions to the welfare of society. In 2021, Bertsimas was awarded the Frederick W. Lanchester Prize for the best publication in Operations Research. His contributions to education have also been acknowledged with awards such as the Jamieson Prize and the Samuel M. Seegal Prize.

Bertsimas is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and an INFORMS Fellow. He holds a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, and both an MS in Operations Research and a PhD in Applied Mathematics and Operations Research from MIT. His dedication to teaching, research, and entrepreneurship continues to influence both the academic and professional worlds.