David A. Goldberg

David A. Goldberg is an Associate Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Operations Research and Information Engineering (ORIE) department at Cornell University's College of Engineering. His research bridges theoretical probability with practical applications in operations management, inventory systems, and queueing networks.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Operations Research, MIT, 2011
• B.S. in Computer Science, minors in Applied Math and Industrial Engineering / Operations Research, Columbia University SEAS, 2006

Professor Goldberg's research focuses on advancing theoretical understanding of stochastic systems while developing practical insights for operations management. His work spans applied probability, stochastic processes, queueing theory, inventory models, distributionally robust optimization, and combinatorial optimization. He has made significant contributions to understanding the behavior of complex systems under uncertainty, particularly in many-server queues and inventory management under demand variability.

His publications reveal strong trends in asymptotic analysis of stochastic systems, particularly in the Halfin-Whitt regime for queueing systems and in inventory models with large lead times. His work consistently bridges theoretical probability with practical operations management applications, with a strong emphasis on developing models that account for real-world uncertainties while maintaining mathematical tractability. His recent work shows increasing focus on distributionally robust approaches that require minimal assumptions about underlying distributions.

Scientific Awards:

• INFORMS Applied Probability Society Best Publication Award (2019)
• INFORMS Nicholson student paper competition first place (2019)
• INFORMS Nicholson student paper competition first place (2015)
• INFORMS Junior Faculty Interest Group paper competition second place (2015)

Professor Goldberg has successfully advised multiple Ph.D. students who have gone on to prestigious academic and industry positions. His research is supported by significant NSF funding, including a CAREER award and a grant for stochastic comparison approaches to parallel server queues. He serves on editorial boards for leading journals including Operations Research and Stochastic Models, and has held leadership positions in the INFORMS Applied Probability Society including Vice-chair (2020-2022) and Council member (2015-2017).