Gilbert Laporte appointed to the Order of Canada
January 7, 2019
Full Professor Gilbert Laporte has been made a member of the Order of Canada, in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of decision science and the development of new methods in operational research. This is one of our country’s highest civilian honours.
The announcement was made on December 27 by Governor General Julie Payette. Professor Laporte will be invited to receive his insignia at a ceremony on a later date. “Created in 1967, the Order honours people whose service shapes our society; whose innovations ignite our imaginations; and whose compassion unites our communities,” explains the press release issued to announce the new appointments. “Close to 7,000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.”
A Remarkable Contribution
Since joining HEC Montréal in 1976, Professor Laporte has been recognized on numerous occasions for his exceptional contributions in his field. In addition to being one of the 1,510 most highly cited researchers in the world, according to their h indexes and their Google Scholar Citations public profiles, thus far in his career he has received many awards and distinctions. The following is an overview:
- Prix Marie-Victorin 2018 (Prix du Québec)
- Prix d’excellence FRQNT 2016-2017 from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT)
- World’s most productive and influential author in the field of operations research and management science, by Omega – The International Journal of Management Science (2017)
- Lifetime Achievement in Location Analysis Award, from INFORMS (2014)
- Robert M. Herman Lifetime Achievement Award in Transportation Science, from INFORMS (2009)
- Innis-Gérin Medal, from the Royal Society of Canada (2007)
A highly prolific author, he has written or co-written 19 books and over 500 articles. Google Scholar gives him 58,196 citations and an h index of 120.
Professor Laporte holds the Canada Research Chair in Distribution Management, and is a member of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Enterprise Networks, Logistics and Transportation (CIRRELT) and the Group for Research in Decision Analysis (GERAD). He has also been a member of the Royal Society of Canada since 1998 and an INFORMS Fellow since 2005.
His research currently focuses on the optimization of routes, speeds, road usage periods, and business and consumer habits, all with the goal of reducing pollution caused by transportation.