Lewis wins Eckerd alumni outstanding career award

Mark Lewis, director of Cornell’s School of Operations Research and Information Engineering, was honored with the William H. Kadel Alumni Medal for Outstanding Career Achievement from Eckerd College.

Eckerd announced the medal as part of its 2023 Alumni Awards, noting the honor is given to an alum “who has demonstrated clear commitment to excellence in her or his career as evidenced by public recognition, achievement or leadership that positively reflects the college’s vision.”

Eckerd cited Lewis’s research in dynamic control of service systems, and in particular, his passion for resource allocation in controlled queueing networks. The college also mentioned Lewis’s work as a senior associate dean for diversity and faculty development at Cornell Engineering, noting that he has championed diversity efforts throughout his career. Among other awards, Eckerd pointed to Lewis’s election as a 2021 INFORMS Fellow.

“I was ecstatic to be recognized with this honor. Eckerd is a small liberal arts college with a strong emphasis on encouraging students to try to improve the world around them. Embedded in the liberal arts, I received a top-notch technical education, with both leading me to any modicum of success I have had,” Lewis said. “This is very much akin to what makes Cornell Engineering special, but kind of flipped around and done at scale. Our students get a strong methodological base alongside an Ivy League liberal arts education. This combination prepares them for leadership in their respective fields. As director of the School of ORIE I have seen the formula work repeatedly through our amazing alums.”

Lewis, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Engineering, received his undergraduate degree in mathematics and political science in 1992 from Eckerd, where he was a member of the intercollegiate men’s basketball team.