Cynthia Barnhart

Cynthia Barnhart is the Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management, Ford Foundation Professor of Engineering, and Professor of Operations Research at MIT Sloan. She served as MIT Provost from 2021, Chancellor from 2014–2021, and held leadership roles in the School of Engineering, Operations Research Center, and Center for Transportation and Logistics. Her expertise lies in large-scale optimization and logistics systems.

Education:

• PhD in Operations Research, MIT (1988)
• SM in Transportation, MIT (1985)

Research Interests:

• Optimization methodologies for complex systems
• Transportation and logistics analytics
• Decision-making under uncertainty

Awards & Recognition:

• Kimball Medal (2021)
• INFORMS Fellow
• Elected to National Academies (American Academy of Arts and Sciences, NAE)
• Two honorary doctorates (EPFL 2014, Toronto 2016)

Advising & Leadership:

Supervised numerous graduate/undergraduate theses across disciplines. Co-directed major research centers and held top administrative roles at MIT.

Labs & Teams:

• Operations Research Center
• Center for Transportation and Logistics