Stephen Graves

Stephen Graves is the Abraham J. Siegel Professor of Management and a Professor of Operations Management at MIT Sloan School of Management, with a joint appointment in Mechanical Engineering. He holds a PhD in Operations Research from the University of Rochester. His research focuses on operations research models applied to manufacturing systems, supply chains, and service operations, including strategic inventory positioning and order fulfillment optimization. Graves has served as MIT Sloan’s Deputy Dean and Chair of MIT’s Faculty Council (2001-2003). He is a Fellow of INFORMS, recipient of the Kimball Medal, and member of the National Academy of Engineering.

Education:

• PhD in Operations Research, University of Rochester
• MBA and AB in Mathematics/Social Sciences, Dartmouth College

Research Interests: Graves develops analytical frameworks for supply chain optimization, inventory management, and production planning. His recent work addresses post-pandemic supply chain resilience, digital twins for production systems, and closed-loop supply chains. Current projects explore operational challenges in e-commerce fulfillment and global supply networks.

Awards:

• INFORMS Kimball Medal (2023)
• Elected to National Academy of Engineering
• INFORMS Prize for Operations Research
• President of INFORMS (2020)

Advising & Grants: Supervisor to 25+ PhD students across manufacturing, supply chain analytics, and healthcare operations. Active in industry collaborations with companies like Intel, Polaroid, and Monsanto. Leads MIT initiatives including the Leaders for Global Operations program.

Labs/Teams: Core member of MIT’s Institute for Data, Systems, and Society (IDSS). Co-director of the MIT Operations Research Center. Involved in interdisciplinary projects combining data science with operations management.