Prof. Frits C.R. Spieksma is a full professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) , where he leads research within the Combinatorial Optimization Group. He has held academic positions at Maastricht University, KU Leuven, and the University of British Columbia, and has been at TU/e since 2018. Education: M.Sc. in Econometrics, University of Groningen (1987) Ph.D. in Operations Research, Maastricht University (1992) Research Focus: His work lies at the intersection of combinatorial optimization and real-world applications . Key themes include: Scheduling and clustering problems, especially in sports tournaments Organ allocation optimization for Eurotransplant Assignment and transportation problems Approximation algorithms and graph-theoretic optimization Scientific Service & Leadership: Founder and ex-Chair, EURO Working Group OR in Sports Member, Steering Committees of MAPSP and MathSports International President, EURO (Association of European Operational Research Societies) Former Vice-President, IFORS Former President, Belgian Society of Operations Research (ORBEL) Editorial Boards: Associate Editor, 4OR (2015–present) Associate Editor, Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports (2014–present) Associate Editor, Operations Research Letters (2008–2024) Former Associate Editor, INFORMS Transactions on Education , OMEGA , Computers & Operations Research , IIE Transactions , Naval Research Logistics PhD Supervision & Mentoring: He has supervised more than 25 PhD theses at KU Leuven and TU/e, many of whom now hold academic positions worldwide. Conference & Workshop Organisation: Recent leadership roles include General Chair of IPCO 2022 (Eindhoven), organiser of Benders Day 2024 , and co-organiser of the Dagstuhl Seminar on Fairness in Scheduling and Resource Allocation (March 2025).





