Student organizations at The University of Texas at Dallas’ Naveen Jindal School of Management continue to shine, receiving national notice once again. Most recently, the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences honored the university with two awards.
UTD’s INFORMS student chapter was honored with the Cum Laude Award at the October annual meeting of the organization, better known as INFORMS. The group is identified as the largest international society for professionals in the fields of operations research, management science and analytics. Its UTD student chapter been successful for years.
Dr. Monica E. Brussolo, the chapter’s faculty advisor, won the Chapter Moving Spirit Award.
The 2024 awards were presented at its annual meeting, held in October in Seattle, Wash. Brussolo’s award, which is not an annual award and only given as warranted, recognizes outstanding chapter volunteers or student chapter faculty advisors who have proven to be “moving spirits” for a particular chapter.
Despite Brussolo’s years of service to the organization, she was reluctant to claim all the credit. The UTD chapter shares in her honor, she said.
“Yes, I won the award, but this is a collective effort of partnership and very tight collaboration over the years,” said Brussolo, an associate professor of instruction in the Jindal School’s Operations Management Area and director of its BS Supply Chain Management and Analytics Program. “The success of the chapter is a result of the students’ commitment to our school and each other’s success.”
This year, UTD’s student chapter, which the professor has worked with for nine years, received the Cum Laude recognition, a third-place designation for student activities.
“It’s not just exclusively what happened last year,” the award-winning advisor said. “The way I see it, the award is a recognition of the diversity in the student’s interest by organizing a variety of events with different themes. This student organization allows for a multidisciplinary focus in their agenda, making this group very successful.”
Brussolo brought an extensive background to UTD when she joined its faculty in 2011. She earned a doctorate in Public Policy and Political Economy and a master’s degree in economics, both at UTD. She holds an MBA from Texas A&M International University in Laredo, plus two bachelor’s degrees—one in accounting and the other in management—from Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas in Mexico. Additionally, she participated in in an international exchange program, through the Arnhem Business School, studying European business, at University Viadinia in Germany.
One person not shocked by Brussolo winning this award is Raj Ghose Dastidar, who earned a master’s in supply chain management from UTD in 2017 and served as president of the INFORMS chapter, collaborating closely with the professor who advised his group.
“She’s a rock star, and I’m not surprised at all,” said Dastidar who is now employed by DeLoitte Consulting.
The two partnered on various projects, including statewide business competitions with Fortune 500 companies. He remembers her as helping students sharpen leadership and people skills, plus encouraging them to use their own unique ideas to solve problems.
“As our leader, she empowered us to drive an initiative in the way we wanted,” he said. “It was part of her leadership that I loved and respected. In a nutshell, it provided me all the soft skills that I needed.”
Excitement about UTD’s awards was felt on campus by current students who currently participate in the campus chapter.
“I was thrilled and incredibly proud when I heard the news,” said Lasya Sree Nalagandla, the chapter’s current president who is working toward her master’s degree in marketing. “It felt like all the hard work, creativity, and passion our team has poured into the chapter truly paid off.”
Fellow student Nagarajan Thandayutham, a business analytics graduate student now in his second year as a chapter member, described learning of the chapter’s latest honors as “exhilarating.” Chapter members heard of its award while meeting together this fall.
“I felt immense pride in our team’s achievement, especially as it marked our second consecutive win,” said Thandayutham, who is the chapter’s assistant vice president for events. “The excitement was contagious. We all screamed with joy and celebrated this shared accomplishment. It was a moment that reinforced the hard work and dedication of every member.”
Under Brussolo, UTD’s INFORMS student chapter owns a proud history that the international parent organization continues to recognize with its annual awards. Launched in 2011 and a part of the Supply Chain Management program, the chapter’s focus is to further the goals of students interested in operations management, management science and analytics.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Professor Brussolo, whose constant guidance, support, and mentorship have been instrumental in our success,” Nalagandla said. “Her encouragement in every step of the way made a huge difference.”
Repeatedly, the organization has been successful excelling in this purpose. In addition to augmenting UTD students’ classroom education, INFORMS hosts activities throughout the academic year emphasizing technical skills, industry best practices and networking with industry professionals.
Collecting chapter statistics was a part of the nomination process, and in reviewing the group’s history, Brussolo was reminded of just how well UTD’s group has performed. This year’s chapter award was much deserved, according to the group’s advisor.
“I was surprised how much it has grown,” she said, adding that the group has elected three female presidents, unusual for the male-dominated career choice. “The numbers were amazing.
When I collected the numbers, I saw that there’s been a lot of growth and a lot of good things in the chapter.”
INFORMS’ success has achieved recognition repetitively, resulting in winning awards now becoming a tradition for UTD’s INFORMS chapter. The student chapter has been named an award winner five times before, with students recognizing how important involvement can be to post-graduate career opportunities. The undergraduates’ professional development through club activities augments their formal, classroom education, and that students see as valuable.
As the club’s president, Nalagandla would label the activities as “transformative.”
“The chapter offers an incredible blend of opportunities, from engaging with industry experts and exploring advanced topics in operations research and analytics to networking and building friendships,” she said.
Through managing large-scale events and collaborating with peers and industry leaders, Thandayutham said he has gained leadership, organizational and communication skills. Increased business connections and industry insights were key factors directly applicable to business scenarios, too, he said.
Shreyas Kathi, a past president of UTD’s INFORMS chapter, graduated with a supply chain management degree in 2016. He credits his experience in the group with helping him begin his professional career. In fact, he was one of the students involved in launching UTD’s campus organization, and he says it was well worth the effort.
“We did not really have a working organization for supply chain management students to speak with professionals,” Kathi said. Through those relationships, he connected with hiring managers to land a college internship and find that first job after graduation. The time working within the INFORMS chapter was 100 percent positive, he said.
“I made a lot of good friendships and good connections,” he said.
UTD also can claim part of the recent honors, according to Brussolo. She credits UTD’s support and resources for allowing the INFORMS chapter to thrive.
“UTD is fertile ground for these kinds of groups to flourish and succeed,” she said.
