Vivek F. Farias is the Patrick J. McGovern (1959) Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management , where he is affiliated with the Operations Management group and the Operations Research Center (ORC) . His work bridges high-dimensional optimization, reinforcement learning, and stochastic modeling, with applications in commerce, healthcare, and biology. Education: Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Stanford University (Advisor: Prof. Benjamin Van Roy) Research Focus: Vivek’s research spans Reinforcement Learning , Dynamic Optimization , Approximation Algorithms , and Inference in Large-Scale Stochastic Systems . Recent applications include commerce platforms, protein networks, and healthcare operations. He has published extensively in top-tier venues like Management Science , Operations Research , NeurIPS , ICML , and Nature Communications . Editorial & Service Roles: Co-Editor, Data Science Area, Management Science Editorial Board, Operations Research Editorial Board, INFORMS Journal on Optimization Scientific Awards: 2022 RMP Jeff McGill Student Paper Award (First Prize) 2022 Applied Probability Society Student Paper Prize (First Prize) 2016 INFORMS MSOM Best Paper in Management Science 2015 INFORMS Revenue Management and Pricing Section Prize Best Simulation Publication Award, INFORMS Simulation Society (2014) George Nicholson Student Paper Competition, First Place (2017) Advising & Mentorship: Vivek has advised 14+ Ph.D. students and numerous MS students, many now faculty at top institutions (Columbia, NYU, CMU, INSEAD) or leaders in industry (Uber, Facebook, Lyft, McKinsey). His lab focuses on scalable algorithms for real-world decision-making under uncertainty. Industry & Entrepreneurship: He co-founded and served as CTO of Celect (acquired by Nike) and currently advises multiple technology startups in retail, healthcare, and finance.









